Harry Potter and the Founding Lords
by The Basilisk King
Summary: A New Student, a breaking up of the old 'Golden Trio'. Will this new student help bring about the destruction of the Dark Lord, or will the wizarding world fall into darkness. Warning Ron Bashing HP/GW HG/OC Please Review
1. Summer and Introductions

**Harry Potter and the Founding Lords**

**Summary: **Someone new comes to Hogwarts, someone who may cause the break up of the 'Golden Trio' forever. Or will this person make a stronger group, a friendship that might be able to defeat Voldemort for good. WARNING: I DON'T LIKE RON; the git keeps ditching his friends over silly tantrums. First fanfic please be kind.

Hermione Granger was the smartest witch of her generation, one of the best friends of the boy who lived, all around nice person most of the time, except when there was a test or an exam, but right now she was extremely pissed off. Her second 'best-friend' and she used that term lightly considering the summer that she had had. It was the summer after their fifth year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and what a year it had been. Dementor attacks, rows, a terrible Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, a crazy run through the Forbidden Forrest and finally a battle with the Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, deep in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Mysteries. But right now her aforementioned 'best-friend' Ronald Bilius Weasley was really starting to piss her off.

Since the end of their fifth year at Hogwarts, Hermione and Harry had been staying at Harry's new home Number 12, Grimmauld Place, the secret Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Professor Dumbledore, for Harry's sake, allowed Hermione to stay at Grimmauld Place to make things easier for Harry after the tragic death of his Godfather Sirius Black, the previous year in the Department of Mysteries. When this arrangement didn't seem to help Harry much at all, he called Harry's almost surrogate family, the Weasley's, to also come and stay, at what was now unofficially called Headquarters. This is where the trouble started Ron had somehow gotten it into his head that he and Hermione were going to get together as a couple, this in itself was annoying but it was, in her opinion, only half the problem. For Ron was not the only Weasley who thought that these two members of the 'Golden Trio' should be together, Mrs. Weasley, the short tempered matriarch of the Weasley family was also of the opinion that Hermione would be an excellent match for her youngest son. This made certain times of the day rather awkward, such as mealtimes and bedtimes, in Hermione's opinion bedtimes were far worse than mealtimes, mealtimes usually consisted of Hermione 'coincidently' being seated next to Ron, given Ron's eating habits this was usually more than a little disturbing, combined with the fact Ron was now taking any and all opportunity to touch her, mealtimes had now become downright disgusting. This had almost no bearing on how terrible bedtimes had become, every time Hermione was getting ready to head up to her room for the night, she was almost always stopped by Mrs. Weasley with little 'knowing' comments that ranged from _"Now don't you too stay up too long tonight, you two have things to do tomorrow" _as far as things went this was one of the more polite comments, usually saved if another family member, aside from Ron, or a member of the Order of the Phoenix, was around. The other, slightly more suggestive, comments included _"Now no hanky panky you two, you both know what will happen if you're not careful" _and even _"Ron's a young man Hermione; he needs all the exercise he can get."_ Often it left Hermione thinking 'What kind of woman does she think I am?'

These disturbing events continued on for most of the summer until something happened that allowed Hermione, with good conscience, to leave Harry with the Weasley's at Grimmauld Place, and that was one Ginny Weasley. Harry told no one what happened, but Hermione was not the smartest witch of her generation for no reason, she had been able to piece together a rough idea of what had happened. Harry had been secluding himself in his room, not speaking to anyone, only coming down in the middle of the night to get himself something to eat, and even then when the early risers came down for breakfast, they could see that he had only eaten a sandwich, this changed after the Weasley's arrived. The Weasley's had been at Headquarters for a few days when Hermione noticed that Ginny had been conspicuously quiet most of the time, until one dinnertime she got up, go together a decent plate of food and just left the table. Later that evening as Hermione was heading for her room, thankfully avoiding Mrs. Weasley this time, she heard a noise coming from Harry's room. Upon closer inspection she noticed that the door was slightly ajar, a sliver of light being visible through the crack, indicated that there was someone or some ones inside the room. Peeking through the opening Hermione saw Harry and Ginny, they were sitting on Harry's bed, this itself was not strange, for when they were at Hogwarts Hermione often sat and talked with Harry on his bed, or indeed she sometimes did the same with Ron, that was before he started pursuing her like a dog on heat. But Harry and Ginny were obviously not talking, well not at the moment anyway, from the looks of things they must have talked at least in the beginning, as Ginny had a few tear tracks down her face indicating she had been crying recently, indeed this was what Harry was doing at this very moment his head was buried in Ginny's lap and great sobs were wracking his body as he let out the tension that had been plaguing him for the whole summer. Feeling like she was intruding on a private moment Hermione silently pulled the door shut, and headed to her own room, feeling happier than she had for a long while, at least Harry had opened up to someone, now the healing could begin. The very next day Hermione organized to return home, as she felt that Harry truly had someone he could talk to now, and she felt that she would do something drastic if she was cooped up in the same house as Ron and his mother for much longer.

The summer passed and September got closer and closer, and the Hogwarts student body, with the exception of Hermione Granger, was in a collective mad scrabble to complete the remainder of their holiday homework, buy their new textbooks and get any other school supplies that they had run out of, weather it be a new quill, more parchment or even something from the newly opened store of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, although many of these had to be purchased without the knowledge of their parental guardians. Even Harry had been able to begin to enjoy the remainder of his summer, his newfound relationship with Ginny Weasley helping more than anyone could know, he was at this moment walking into Kings Cross Station, with the Weasley's, and three Aurors for protection, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody. He was looking forward to seeing Hermione again; he had missed her since she had left Headquarters in the middle of the summer he had understood why she left though, he could hardly put up with Ron at the moment as it was, all his _"Well now that you and Ginny are together, Hermione will have to go out with me, wouldn't that be great, the four of us could so much stuff together. But not everything, right Harry mate" _that last part was usually accompanied by a nudge in the ribs. To say the least Harry had a fair idea of what Hermione had been going through during her time at Headquarters.

But Ginny was his saving grace, she made him smile again, made him laugh on occasion, she also showed him that their were reasons for living, 'Also, snogging her is one of the upsides too' Harry thought to himself with a grin, as he saw Hermione go through the barrier separating Platform 9 from Platform 10, the entrance to Platform 9 ¾. Following Hermione and her parents, Harry and the Weasleys arrived on Platform 9 ¾ and saw the gleaming red visage of the Hogwarts Express. Harry managed to catch Hermione's eye almost as soon as they had passed through the barrier separating this portion of the magical world from the muggle, she returned his smile with a cheery wave and made her way over to where he and Ginny were standing, his left hand firmly clasping her right. As Hermione approached Harry wondered how he was going to tell her about him and Ginny, he wasn't embarrassed by being in a relationship with her, he just didn't know how to be in a proper relationship, and he really didn't count that disastrous date with Cho as a real date. Fortunately Hermione was not the smartest witch of her age for nothing, plus she had that helpful hint of seeing Harry open up to Ginny, something she was not planning on telling anyone. As she reached the new couple they noticed that she had a small smirk on her face, instead of waiting for any explanations, awkward or otherwise, she threw her arms around the both of them, so that they had no choice but to both hug her at the same time. "Well that's the awkward phase out of the way" Ginny quipped in as Hermione grinned and Harry blushed ever so slightly. "Hermione there you are, I've got something really important to tell you" said Ron as he approached the group. Hermione almost winced, she'd had the _whole_ remainder of the summer to try and forget about Ron and his infatuation with her, even after all the times she had told him she wasn't interested in a relationship with him, and the problem came back in about three seconds. "Yes Ron, what would that be?" She asked sweetly, anyone who knew her really well, which Ron should, would know that she was in a fairly bad mood at the moment. "Well Ginny and Harry got together over the Holidays, isn't that great?" She nodded still with the fake sweet smile on her face "Yes I had kind of guessed it though, when I saw them just now." Ron, still smiling, said the one the one thing that would push Hermione from annoyance to anger, "Well then, all that's left is for you and me to get together th…"

SLAP

Ron stood there in stunned silence, Harry stood there in stunned silence, Ginny stood there and tried not to laugh, she had never really believed in her mother's and brother's ideas concerning her friend, and was really just glad that she had been around to see her brother put in his place. "For the last time Ronald, NO we shall not be together, we SHALL NOT go out, now get that through your head if you still want to have any form of friendship with me." With that she stormed off up the platform, giving a quick, but heartfelt goodbye to his escort and the other members of the Weasley family, including the mortified Mrs. Weasley, they left the stunned Ron on the platform and hurried after the retreating form of Hermione, as they wanted to get a compartment together, and hopefully discourage Ron from sitting with them until he had the opportunity to think over his actions and realize what a prat he had been over the last weeks.

Harry and Ginny were searching for a compartment by themselves as Hermione had told them that she was going to go to the Prefects compartment early to get her patrol timetable, so there would be less of a chance of running into Ron, and less messing around later on in the trip. Finally they found an empty compartment close to the carriage that held the prefects compartment, so Hermione finding them quickly was a guaranty. They hadn't been sitting long until they heard movement outside the compartment door, it slid open and a tall, blonde broad shouldered young man stuck his head in and said in a slightly strange accent "Excuse me but do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else seems to be full" Harry smiled at the newcomer and said "Sure have a seat; I haven't seen you at Hogwarts before are you a transfer student?" The young man raised his head in surprise as he dragged in his Hogwarts trunk and said "No actually I'm a new student. You could almost say that for most of the time that I would have been at school I was…being home schooled." His tone of voice left neither Ginny nor Harry in any doubt that this was a no-go subject for their traveling companion. Harry immediately stuck out his hand and said "Nice to meet you I'm Harry Potter" the young man shook Harry's hand with a small smile, indicating that he had already guessed his identity, thanks to Harry's ever present lightning bolt scar, but was polite enough not to mention it, he then shook Ginny's hand as he introduced herself as "Ginny Weasley". "Pleasure to meet you both, I'm Ragnar, Ragnar Thorkild Valerian is my full name, but my friend calls me Rags, so I guess you can to." Harry and Ginny cracked grins; neither could wait to introduce their new friend to Hermione.


	2. Train rides and Confrontations

A/N: ok forgot to mention this is ch 1, I don't own Harry Potter JKR does, I only own Rags, and constructive feedback is appreciated if you have any ideas please let me know, Cheers TBK

"Hey Rags? Can I ask you a question?" Said Ginny after a moment's pause, "Ja Ginny, go ahead, although that was a question" replied Ragnar with a smirk. Ginny, who was sitting next to Harry on one side of the compartment, sent a mock glare at their new friend while Ragnar was still messing around getting his trunk stored in the overhead compartment, when he turned to sit down he had a long intricately carved wooden box in his hand, just over a metre long, when he sat down he placed it almost reverently in his lap. Ginny decided for the moment that she would go with her original question "You mentioned earlier that your 'friend' calls you Rags" Ragnar nodded his head in agreement with this statement, and gave Ginny a look that said 'continue', "well I was just wondering if you meant 'friends', the only reason I ask is that you were pretty specific." Ragnar nodded his head again and gave another small smile, although this one was a little sadder than the others, "Well Ginny that's because I only really have one friend, so hence friend not friends." Ginny was shocked, so shocked she sat there with her mouth open, doing a fantastic impression of a goldfish, in Harry's humble opinion, Harry spoke up "Well you can add two more to that list I think mate, well three when Hermione gets here" at Rags' raised eyebrow, Harry elaborated "Hermione is one of our best friends, she is one of the Gryffindor sixth year Prefects, she's great" Ginny also piped in "Yeah she is one of the people that you have to definitely be friendly with while you are here at Hogwarts, not just for the Homework." At that both Harry and Ginny burst out laughing while Rags sat there wondering what this Hermione was going to be like.

At that moment Hermione Granger was stalking through the Hogwarts Express on her way back to the normal seating carriages, she had just been let from the Prefect meetings, which did not include the presence of Ronald Weasley, he had sent along a note stating that he wasn't feeling well and that he was resting in one of the carriages. So offcourse Hermione had been told that she was going to have to do the Gryffindor rounds solo "Just brilliant" she muttered to herself "when I get my hand on you Ronald Weasley, you will wish that you had never been born." Suddenly she heard Harry and Ginny's voices coming from the compartment next to her, but surprisingly enough she heard another voice that she was not familiar with, a deep masculine voice with an accent that she couldn't quite place. She opened the door to be greeted by Ginny's "Speak of the devil here she is, Hermione Granger, this is Ragnar Valerian, a new student" Hermione appraised the young man in front of her. He was good looking with fairly long blonde hair held back with a metallic clasp, 'Unusual in most boys' thought Hermione, he had broad shoulders, and from what she could see under the large jumper he wore, he had rather large muscles. Realising that she was 'checking out' someone she had only just me, Hermione hurriedly brought her eyes up to his face and noticed that he had a scar down the left side of his face, it didn't disfigure his features, just made him more noticeable, but his eyes captured her. The only way that she could describe them is that they were a mix of sky blue and storm grey, 'Stormy eyes' she thought to herself, she then realised that he had his hand out and was looing at her with a guarded expression, she quickly reached forward and shook his hand with a sheepish smile "Sorry I was miles away there" Rags smiled and replied "No problem, but please call me Rags, my 'friends' call me that." The mock glare he sent Ginny's way had the girl in stiches once again.

They talked about little things for a while, just getting to know one another, although it was really only Harry that noticed that Ginny, he and Hermione did most of the talking, Rags certainly talked but didn't reveal much about his past and some of his answers were a little vague. Harry had the feeing that he was dealing with a kindred spirit, someone who, like himself, had gone through a terrible childhood, how bad would only be revealed with time. Checking his watch Harry realised that it was nearly time for the food trolley to be coming around, when the door opened and Harry's second least favourite person at Hogwarts walked in, Draco Malfoy, along with his usual Slytherin goons, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. "Well look who's here, Potty, a Weasel and the Mudblood, I'm surprised that you came back here Potter, especially after what happened at the Ministry." Harry made a move to stand up but Rags beat him to it "Could you look after this for me please Hermione?" he asked as he gave the long box to her and stood up to his full height. Harry was surprised to see how tall he actually was, Harry himself was a little shorter than Malfoy, even though he had grown over the summer, thanks to Mrs. Weasley's cooking rather than the crap he ate at No 4 Privet Drive. But Rags seemed to tower over Malfoy making the Slytherin look rather puny "Firstly who the hell are you, and secondly, and I am sure that I am mistaken, but I thought that I heard you insult my friends." Malfoy gave him his trademark sneer "I am Draco Malfoy sixth year Slytherin Prefect, and you would do well to remember that name, also why should I care what the friends of Mudblood's think?" He never saw the fist that smashed into his face breaking both his nose and his left cheek bone; Malfoy flew back into the passage wall and knew no more. Crabbe and Goyle rounded on the person who had taken their leader down a peg and recoiled at the rage sowing in his stormy eyes "Now lads, why don't you pick up your little girlfriend here and find a nice hole to crawl into, I don't want to see you for the rest of the trip am I understood?" The two boys nodded terrified out of their wits, the quickly picked up their downed leader and left as quickly as they could. Turning around Rags noticed that his new friends were looking at him, all of them now doing the goldfish expression "What?" He asked, Harry just smirked and said "I think we'll get along just fine Rags." Sitting down next to Hermione Rags said "Nice goldfish impression Hermione" that single statement broke the spell on the rest of the occupants of the carriage and friendly conversation started up again.

After devouring a wide selection of treats from the food trolley that came round, Hermione realised that it was time or her to go and do her Prefect rounds, solo offcourse since Ron was 'sick' "Well I guess I'll see you lot at Hogwarts, I've got to do my rounds now and their the last ones before we reach the castle." "Hermione?" "Yes Rags" "I always thought that Prefects did their rounds in pairs, why are you going on your own?" Hermione sighed quietly "The other Prefect is Ron Weasley, Ginny's older brother, and right now, no offence Gin, he is being a prat, nothing that you want to hear about but he sent a note to the Prefect cabin saying that he was 'sick' and couldn't make his rounds, hence I have to do them on my own." What was said next shocked not only Hermione but Harry and Ginny also "Well, if you wouldn't mind some company I'll go along with you. I mean I know that I am no Prefect and can't do anything, but at least you wouldn't be on your own." Hermione managed not to do a fish impression and favoured Rags with a bright radiant smile "Thank you Rags I accept your kind offer, although it might be prudent to change into your school robes before we leave, so you aren't in a rush when we get to the school" agreeing to meet back at the compartment in five minuted each went of to get changed, after Rags had secured his precious box back with his trunk.

Hermione found that Rags was waiting for her when she got back from changing, actually standing next to him drove home the point of actually how big he was, school robes left much of a person's figure up to another's imagination, but they gave a better idea of his body shape than what he was wearing before. "We'll start at the back of the carriages and work our way forward, ok?" Rags gave a small grin and replied "You're the prefect not me, I'm here to follow your orders" with that Hermione burst out laughing and the pair began the prefect rounds. During the rounds Hermione basically filled in all the blanks about Harry, herself and Ron's time at Hogwarts, although in her opinion Rags had now almost replaced Ron as her friend in the 'trio'. Some of the stuff had Rags doing the fish impersonation, which Hermione gleefully reminded him about. They were about two thirds of the way through the prefect rounds when Hermione asked a question that had been on her mind for some time "Rags, throughout the whole train ride you never told us where you were from, I mean we all gathered you were not from England as you have an accent, where are you from?" "Well seeing as it's you who are asking" said Rags with a smirk at Hermione's slight blush "I'm from Norway, but I've been in England for a year, well almost a year. I spent most of that time learning English" Hermione looked up "English isn't your first language?" Rags grinned and said "Nei Jeg er redd det Norsk er , hvorfor? Kan ikke du fortelle?" His grin just got wider at her mock glare "Smart arse" she muttered, she even had the good grace to blush we he whispered in her ear "I heard that." Trying to change the subject Hermione looked at her companion and said "One last question Rags" at his raised eyebrow she amended her statement "ok one last question for now" he nodded "well I was wondering what was in that box that you kept on your lap in the compartment?" For one moment Rags' expression hardened until he visibly relaxed himself "That is a long story Hermione, and unless I miss my guess that would be Hogwarts" glancing round Hermione saw the castle become visible through the mountains and surrounding forest "well I'll give you a hint, it isn't a broom, it is a very personal object, and I made it myself." Hermione glared at him "What kind of hints are those?" Rags threw back his head and laughed "All the mysteries that you lot have solved during your time here at Hogwarts, discovering what is in a metre long box should be easy." As they made sure that all the young students left the train, Hermione found herself looking round for Rags seeing him standing near the first years she called over to him "Rags second years and above this way" Rags shook his head and replied "I may be going into sixth year Hermione, but I still need to be sorted, I'll see you in there" and with that he headed off with the first years, and Hagrid to were the boats were waiting, looking almost as tall as Hagrid next to the diminutive first years.

A/N By the way that bit of Norwegian Rags said translates as _"No I'm afraid that Norwegian is, why? Can't you tell?"_ Please tell me if you like the use of another language occasionally Cheers TBK


	3. Feasts and Heroics

Harry, Ginny Hermione and Ron were sitting in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry waiting for the sorting of the new students and the beginning of term feast. The seating arrangement was that Ron was seated on Harry's left Ginny on his right with Hermione on her right, Hermione was intending to avoid Ron as much as possible, or at least as long as it took for him to stop pursuing her as a possible romantic interest. Ginny was quite disgusted the way that some members of her family had been treating Hermione, she had told Hermione as much on the way up to the castle by the Thestral drawn carriages, that again Harry was the only one on the carriage that could see them. Harry was at that moment glancing at his watch, he had gotten a new one from Hermione the other year after his first one had been rendered useless in the Triwizard Tournament, he noticed that the first years were arriving a little late this year, he tried to quiet the voice in the back of his mind that said that something had happened to them. Suddenly the doors to the Great Hall were thrown open and a visibly shaken McGonagall strode in at the head of the terrified first years, it was then Lavender Brown, one of Harry and co's fellow Gryffindor's exclaimed "Who is that?" Most of the people at the table, and indeed the Great Hall looked around and there was Rags, completely drenched and missing his over robe, in his right hand he was holding his equally drenched school jumper. He was standing behind the long line of first years, but there was a diminutive shape that kept rather close to him, this shape Hermione realised, was none other than an equally drenched first year girl, who at the moment was smothered in Rags' much larger school robe in order to keep her warm and safe from chills. Rags being drenched gave the female population of Hogwarts a completely unrestricted view of his physique, something Hermione was slightly embarrassed to say she joined in. Her earlier appraisal of his physical appearance was not quite on the money, his arms biceps, triceps and forearms were much larger and much more heavily muscled than she thought, and his chest and torso had most of the girls over third year drooling. She also noticed that his chest and abs were in the same condition as his arms, with his abs sporting an impressive eight-pack. "Ooh baby, please let him be a Gryffindor" said Lavender with a side look at some of the other girls in their house who all nodded their heads in agreement, what they didn't notice as that Hermione was also nodding her head too. McGonagall went up to the head table and had a quit conversation with Dumbledore, the Headmaster stood up and signalled for silence. "Welcome back students for another year of magical education, normally we would go straight into the sorting, but it appears that something has already happened this early in the year that merits some attention. Professor Hagrid will tell us what has happened."

_Flashback: Rags POV_

_Rags was sitting in one of the boats with the first years heading towards the great castle of Hogwarts, a boat he decided he was completely unsuited being in, seeing as it was designed for first years and he was turning seventeen later that year. Glancing around he noticed that the lake was becoming quite rough, taking a glance at the large figure of Hagrid in the lead boat, and noticing that the teacher appeared to be unconcerned by the sailing conditions, leaned back and thought upon the eventful train ride from London. _

_He was smiling to himself at the thought of punching out the arrogant Malfoy when over the sound of the waves he heard a short scream. A squeaky male voice called out as loudly as they could "Help please, that girl just fell in." There was a figure in one of the boats pointing at a struggling shape in the lake, a figure that apparently lost the battle to stay afloat and was soon lost beneath the surface, a quick glance at Hagrid confirmed his fears that the half-giant, he assumed he was thus upon seeing the size of the man, was not in a position to do anything, shrugged out of his outer robe, Rags drew his wand from the holster strapped to his left arm, under his school shirt, and dived into the murky water. _

'_Great move Ragnar you moron, you can't see under the water' Rags thought to himself, he quickly cast the Bubblehead Charm on himself so that air was not going to be a problem, and set about looking for the fallen girl. Catching sight of a slightly struggling figure about thirty metres ahead he set out in that direction. _

_End of Flashback:_

"I was lookin round for the two of em, but there was no sign, Rags had been under the water for about two minutes, and I ad all but given im up for dead along with liddle Emily over there" the bundle gave a wave and looked up at Rags who smiled at her. Hermione could hardly believe what she had heard, Rags had dived into the lake to save the life of someone he hadn't even known, then she turned her attention back to Hagrid who had continued his story before the captivated hall. "Then he burst out of the water swimming hard for the boat he dived from, he put Emily in first then climbed in himself and wrapped her up in his robe, and she hasn' left his side since." Hagrid favoured Rags with a big smile, which Rags returned with one of his now better known smaller ones. "Well this is a most wondrous occasion, seeing as you have not been sorted into a house young man, I think a reward of two hundred house points to whichever house you enter will be sufficient" Dumbledore was smiling his encouraging smile, which slipped slightly when Rags only gave him a cold stare in return, which itself shocked many of the students and staff, but he replied with a "Thank you Headmaster, I'm just glad Emily is safe."

The sorting continued on as normal from that point, except with Rags having a quiet word with Professor Flitwck about having a drying charm done on himself and Emily, he said that he was so cold at that point he probably would have set fire to himself if he had tried, the small Charms Professor laughed at this and performed the charm himself, along with a congratulations for his heroics. Soon "Vakley, Emily" was called by Professor McGonagall, and the small girl, still in Rags' robe, he had quietly told her to keep it on if she was cold, she was quite happy with this arrangement and said she would return it after the feast. The girl tentatively sat on the stool and the sorting hat had only been on her head for a matter of moments when it yelled out "GRYFFINDOR" which had the Gryffindor table cheering loudly, well the girls anyway, they wanted to ask Emily some questions about Rags. But all noise in the hall stopped when McGonagall called out the last name "Valerian, Ragnar" Rags stepped up and sat gingerly on the stool that was much too small for him, the hat was placed on his head, and there was silence. The hall waited with baited breath, wondering what could take so long, the longest wait that they had endured from the Sorting Hat was a few minuted, Rags was approaching six minuted when the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR", this sent the Gryffindor table, mostly the girls into hysterics. Rags calmly walked toward the table and sat down opposite Hermione and next to Seamus Finnigan who enthusiastically clapped him on the shoulder and said "Welcome to Gryffindor mate" only Hermione, Harry and Ginny noticed Rags stiffen at the touch but relaxed when Rags grinned back at Seamus and introduced himself. It was then that the Headmaster stood up and signaled for silence "Now before we enjoy our most excellent feast, there are a few announcements to be made, firstly Mr. Filch has expanded his list of banned objects, the full list can be seen on the door to his office, also I would like for you to welcome a new member of the teaching staff here at Hogwarts, Professor H Slughorn, who will be taking over the position of Potions Master" this statement left all of the students second year and above reeling in shock, as they could all clearly the hated Professor Snape sitting at the High Table. "Our very own Professor Snape has graciously agreed to step in as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, please give our new staff member and our new DADA Master a warm welcome, now Dig In", the applause was loud but polite, many of the students wondering what was going to happen in Snape's new class. As the feast wore on Rags was gradually introduced to his fellow Gryffindor's, everyone was being exceptionally friendly to the new lion , but that may have had something to do with him earning them a record setting two hundred house points in one go, before the year officially started. But as with all good things, the feast came to an end, the prefects of each house escorting their houses back to their dormitories, Rags again filled in for Ron, who had been rather distant and cool towards the new addition, who had left as quickly as he could and gone straight to bed, which was probably a good thing as he missed all the smiles and giggles that were sent Rags' way from the Gryffindor girls, even Hermione, not that she would admit to it. Most of the sixth and seventh year Gryffindor's cornered Rags as soon as he entered the common room, and started firing questions of at him, much faster than the young man could answer. Harry noticed his new friend in trouble, Rags was giving his usual minimum answers to all the questions that were thrown at him, so Harry decided, with a grin, to use his saving people thing and grabbed his friend by the arms and said "Oi that's enough for tonight folks, let the man breath, remember its his first time at Hogwarts so let him get adjusted before you interrogate him." The Gryffindor's chuckled at this and most made there way to their dormitories, except for Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Rags and Emily, who shyly came up to the tall young man and politely said "Thanks for saving me, here is your robe back" she then did something that caught the big Norwegian completely by surprise, she threw herself at him an gave him a hug, Rags seemed unsure what to do, so he gently hugged her back and said "You are most welcome Emily, I'm just glad I could help" she gave him a big grin, and blushing slightly rushed up to the first year girls dorm. Harry noticed that Rags had an odd expression on his face; the little voice inside Harry's head was telling him that this was more evidence of Rags bad childhood, and Harry then and there decided that he was going to try and get Rags to open up and talk about it.

The four of them were sitting comfortably in the Common Room talking about any topic that came to mind, much to Hermione's relief the topic of Quidditch had come and gone seeing as Harry and Ginny had gotten Rags to admit he had never watched a game, never played, but could fly alright, and so having convinced him to try out for the Gryffindor team when the Captain had been announced, they had moved on to other subjects, even though it was late the four of them showed almost no signs of tiredness, Hermione was used to staying up most of the night studying, and could survive and be at peak studying condition on about two full nights of sleep in a seven day week, Harry was used to sneaking around the castle and Privet Drive at all kinds of ungodly hours, Ginny was used to being woken up in the middle of the night by explosions coming from Fred and George's room so she was holding up ok, and Rags was the one that they couldn't explain, out of all of them he seemed least affected by the lateness of the time, which was fast approaching twelve thirty, so Hermione vetoed everyone's objections and used her Prefects power and ordered them all off to bed, Harry gave Ginny a rather long kiss goodnight which resulted in Rags and Hermione politely looking out the window a the Hogwarts grounds. After that Harry and Ginny went to their dorms, but before Harry entered his he turned and said "Coming Rags? You don't want Hermione gunning for you for being late to class tomorrow" Rags grinned at Hermione and said back to Harry "I guaranty you Harry that no matter what time you get up tomorrow, well today, I will be already dressed, and waiting right here in the common room." Harry smirked "Ok fine, it's a bet" with that he turned and entered his dorm, and was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow _'Its good to be home' _were Harry's final thought of the day. Meanwhile Hermione and Rags were still down in the common room, as Hermione was about to follow Ginny towards the girls dorms, she turned round and pulled Rags into a hug of her own, as she expected, as she had watched his reactions to physical contact since they got to Hogwarts, he stiffened up almost immediately she kept holding him until she felt him return her embrace, as she hugged him she said "Rags I just wanted to say thank you, thank you for what you did on the train" Rags replied by saying "It was my pleasure Hermione, I'll see you in the morning." Hermione smiled at him then turned and went up the sixth year girl's dorm, wondering about her mysterious new friend, but determined to find out more about him, and one thing Hermione Jane Granger as good at was finding out new things.

A/N: I hope that the character's mentioned were not too OOC, and that the OC of Ragnar is to everyone's like. Also please if you read this story, please drop me a review, cheers TBK


	4. Timetables and Conversations

A/N: Thank you's must go out to Monnbeam and vanillarush for their reviews and helpful hints, thanks guys. I am trying to keep my Para's shorter and less condensed with text, but it is an ongoing process. Glad You like Ragnar, more will be revealed about him in the next chapter. Thanks again TBK

Harry woke up refreshed, despite going to bed quite late, when he checked his watch he discovered that it was fairly early. He got out of bed and got dressed in his school robes, after a quick shower, and got himself down to the common room, and his eyes widened in shock. There was Rags sitting on the couch, grinning like a lunatic, dressed in his Gryffindor robes, looking like he had gotten eight full hours of sleep, rather that the six and a half that he would have gotten had been in bed at the time that Harry went. "Bloody hell Rags how on earth did you did that mate?" Rags burst out laughing "Well, you see Harry the secret is" he indicated that Harry should lean closer, when he did he whispered in his ear "Magic", it was at this time that Ginny came down from her dorm and saw her boyfriend and new friend, who was quickly becoming a very good friend, laughing like mad "Ok what's so funny?" She asked unfortunately this just set the two of them off again; it took them several minutes to calm down properly. Ginny looked t her watch and said "It's nearly seven forty five you two, should we head down to breakfast?" Rags went to get up but sat back down and said "You two go on ahead, I'll wait for Hermione" with a knowing glance that left Rags trying to hide a blush, Harry and Ginny left through the portrait hole and headed down to breakfast.

Hermione was in a hurry she was running behind schedule, something that she didn't normally do. It all started when she discovered that she had overslept, something that had not happened since term one of her first year, at the moment it was going on seven thirty and she had only just got out of the shower, it took her another twenty minutes to get ready, so at ten to eight she was racing around trying to get all her books together in her bag for the day, as she knew that there would be almost no time to get everything together after breakfast. Finally having got everything ready, including herself she dashed out of the girls dorms and ran into the common room, only to stop in shock at the bottom of the stairs in shock.

Sitting calmly on the couch, stroking her cat Crookshanks with his left hand, who was normally very picky on who had the honour of patting him, and holding a pencil in his right, yes a muggle pencil in a wizarding school, was Rags, who was also ticking and crossing things off in his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook, which was actually hovering at about chest height in front of him. "Morning Hermione" he greeted with a smile, before closing the book and replacing it and the pencil in his school bag "ready for breakfast?" Hermione smiled and replied "Morning Rags, yes I am ready for breakfast so please lead the way" he grinned at her as he opened the portrait leading to the staircase and said "after you my lady" with a flourishing bow, Hermione replied in an equally aloof voice "Thank you kind sir, such chivalry is always welcome" no sooner had the pair gotten out of the portrait hole and onto the landing, they looked at each other, and burst out laughing.

Meanwhile Harry and Ginny were sitting at the Gryffindor table eating their breakfast, well trying to eat it and trying to avoid being sick at the sight of Ron shovelling food down his throat as fast as he could breath, "You know mate that looks pretty disgusting" said Harry as he tried to avoid a flying bit of bacon, Ron just glared at him, still not over the fact that Hermione would not go out with him, "Look Harry I don't make comments about your eating habits do I? No, so keep quiet about mine."

Harry and Ginny stared in shock at Ron, normally he just made a grunt and kept on eating, he never fired up like that. Harry decided to try to find out what was on his friend's mind, "Erm Ron is there anything bothering you?" Asked Harry, as innocently as possible, trying his best not to set off Ron's fiery temper, Ron sighed and said "Sorry mate I didn't mean to snap at you, its just…well its Hermione." Harry and Ginny were confused, so she piped in "What about Hermione?" she asked confusion evident in her voice. Ron replied by saying "I don't know what is the matter with her, we used to be so close, but now it's as if she is shutting me out. I've asked her out loads of times and she keep saying no, I don't understand it" Harry could hardly believe that Ron was this dense about what Hermione was telling him. Harry though he had better say something quick, Ginny was likely to say something quite harsh, she had told Harry in quite colourful language what she though of her mother helping Ron try to get Hermione to be his girlfriend, "Well you know what mate, she might be trying to tell you something" said Harry _'Yeah like she doesn't like you' _added Ginny silently.

Ron strangely enough perked up at this "I know, she's playing hard to get, all the birds play it sometime don't they? They do it to see if a bloke is really interested, now that I know her game I can beat her at it and then she will be mine." This was the wrong thing to say in front of Ginny who immediately started to go as red as her hair and was about to launch into a Weasley shouting spree, that was causing Harry who could read the signs to slowly sink down in his seat. When Ron suddenly got angry himself and said "What does she think she is doing?" The other two turned round in their seats and looked towards the entrance of the Great Hall, and saw what had annoyed Ron so much.

There was Hermione smiling and having what appeared to be a quite animated and friendly conversation with Rags, who in tern was wearing one of his smaller smiles, an obvious indication that he was enjoying his time with the girl next to him. "Look at her" Ron said "she is practically throwing herself at him", this unfortunate comment earned Ron his second slap in as many days, this time from his sister, "Ronald Bilius Weasley, who Hermione sees, who she is friends with, and indeed who she decides to have a relationship with is no concern of yours. So unless you are going to say something nice or polite then keep your mouth shut." Harry and Ron were both staring at Ginny with two very different expressions on their faces, Harry had one of awe and respect, Ron's was something akin to embarrassment and anger, but he didn't get up an move as one would expect someone to do in his position, he stayed where he was as it gave him a good view of what Hermione and Ragnar were doing, as in his mind she was already cheating on their relationship.

Hermione was really enjoying her conversation with Rags, she found out that he was a kindred spirit, he enjoyed learning and reading, and even more surprising was that he was taking loads of classes, just like her, _'Maybe I won't be on my own studying in the library all the time this year'_. Rags looked at Hermione oddly wondering why she was suddenly blushing, he gave a cheery wave to the scowling bandaged Malfoy over at the Slytherin table and the two of them sat down to enjoy their breakfast. Hermione looked over at Harry and was about to say something, when she caught sight of Ron glaring hatefully at Rags, she looked at Ginny who motioned her to keep quiet, and that she would tell her later, Hermione also wondered why Ron looked like he had been slapped.

"Sixth years, here are your timetables" said Professor McGonagall, as she came over from the staff table to deliver her houses timetables, and sort out any mishaps or misplaced subjects that were put down by overzealous students who unfortunately did not have the marks that they needed to get into the subject of their choice. "Ok Mr. Potter, you have Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration and I m very pleased with your mark in my subject Potter well done, Herbology yes that's fine, um Potter why haven't you put down for Potions this year, I thought that you wanted to be an Auror?" Harry looked up at the professor and said "Yes Professor, but Professor Snape said that he would only take O students to N.E.W.T. level I only got an E." McGonagall smiled thinly and said "Yes that is correct but Professor Slughorn is willing to take students to N.E.W.T. Potions on an E, so shall I put you down for it?" Harry nodded "Yes please Professor, but I don't have any books or equipment" McGonagall told him that Slughorn would be able to lend him some books and other Potions equipment on his way to class, "Oh and by the way Potter, this was supposed to be sent out to you with your letter but it was mislaid, congratulations." She passed him a silver badge with the words _Quidditch Captain_ imprinted on its surface; Harry grinned and got a big congratulatory kiss from Ginny, which caused more than one catcall from the Gryffindor table. After receiving his updated timetable, kiss, and Captain's badge, he was glad to see that he was going to be in the same class as Dean, Seamus, Ron and Neville for most of his subjects, he was just waiting to see what classes Hermione and Rags were going to get.

"Miss Granger" came the commanding voice of Professor McGonagall as she reached Hermione, "Congratulations you qualified for all your courses. Defence, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, very impressive Miss Granger, even more impressive that you are avoiding that little issue of third year." Hermione Grinned at that, she wasn't going to make the mistake of using a time turner again, once was enough. She watched as McGonagall moved on to Rags "Ok Mr. Valerian, you are good for Defence, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures, I'm sure you will get along well with Professor Hagrid, and you are with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger for most of your subjects, so if you have any problems just ask them or myself if it is serious matter." With that McGonagall moved off to sort out the fifth year timetables, Harry shared a glance with Ginny "Rags is doing the same amount of subjects as Hermione, think he can keep up that workload?" Harry asked Ginny, who just shrugged indicating that they would have to wait and see.

Rags smiled a little as he read his timetable, sure it was as lot of subjects but he was interested in all of them _'It'll also stop me thinking about…Freya. NO think on the now, not the then'_ he shook himself out of his memories and looked back at his schedule, Herbology was probably the subject that interested him less than the others but that was the one he had the least knowledge about, but he had been assured when Dumbledore checked his entrance O.W.L. Exams that he would do well enough in the subject. Glancing at the current day he noticed that his first class was Ancient Runes, sneaking a look he noticed that Hermione had the same class followed by Defence Against the Dark Arts. Glancing up he noticed that she was looking at him "Ready for Runes Hermione?" he asked. Hermione smiled and said "Sure lets go, Rags why are you taking runes? I'm just wondering why, not many people do." Rags replied by saying "In Norway most of the historical sites and writings are in a form of runic language, the same goes for wizarding history, so I thought that seeing that for over a thousand years my peoples written language consisted of a runic text I should get a better idea of where I come from." Rags tried hard not to laugh at Hermione's open mouthed expression at his explanation, "What I can have a civilised educated conversation if I want" this just caused Hermione to start laughing, which Rags soon joined in with, and with that the two of them left the Great Hall, leaving Harry and Ginny smiling and Ron glaring after the two of them.

A/N: Ok I know the story has taken little while to progress, but I'm going to try to move it along quicker, event wise not content, in the next chapter. Just so it's not a day by day account of life at Hogwarts, again please Read and Review. Cheers TBK


	5. Truths and Half Truths

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, and I'm glad pstibbons like the Ron and Molly bashing (more to come on that front)  Ok answers to some questions

Yes Ragnar is descended from Vikings (Will come into the story later on)

Rags will have weaknesses, but I'm trying to create a character that appears strong (very strong) on the surface but underneath he has flaws and weaknesses, still trying to work that in, he won't become a Mary Sue

Harry wishing to take runes? Probably not, but he will realise that in terms of preparing himself that being friends with Ron has been a negative influence. Also he will wish that he followed Hermione's advice more than Ron's in later chapters.

Hermione, as usual had enjoyed the first day of school, her Runes class had been excellent as usual, Defence had been a little bit more of a strain on her, and anyone else not in Slytherin. Snape had made it quite clear that he didn't appreciate having anyone not from his own house knowing the answers in his favourite subject, which immediately set him against Harry, Hermione and strangely enough Ragnar. Hermione had been surprised that she had competition for 'smartest' in the class, in Ancient Runes Rags' hand had gone up almost as many times as her own, often with a similar answer, the same in Defence, those had been their only two classes today, with more tomorrow, she had been right in her assessment that they would be using much of their free time to study and complete their homework.

At the moment they, as in Hermione, Harry, Rags and Ginny were sitting in the Great Hall eating dinner. Ginny was surprised to see that Hermione wasn't the only one at the Gryffindor table that was reading a book while eating dinner, Rags was as well. Except where Hermione's was balanced on a jug of pumpkin juice, Rags was floating in front of him again, something several Gryffindor's had been wondering about. Hermione was reading her Runes text book, as she had told Harry that morning they had been given a lot of work due for the next lesson, Rags was reading his Care of Magical Creatures book, a subject he was thoroughly interested in, especially the bit on Hippogriffs, which caused Hermione and Harry to share a secretive smile.

Ginny looked at her fellow fifth and sixth year Gryffindor's and said "Um Rags, this may be a daft question, but how are you doing that?" she indicated the floating book. Rags looked up from his dinner and said "Not a daft question really, it's something I have been able to do since I was a boy, I am a telekinetic." Everyone looked up at the sound of Hermione's book knocking over the pumpkin juice as she started in her seat. "Your telekinetic?" she asked in amazement, being telekinetic was rare, not as rare as being a parseltonge, but rare enough in it's own right. "Yes it's something that was passed down to me from my father's side of the family" his tone of voice was considerably colder when he discussed his family; it was quite a contrast to how he had so nonchalantly described his 'gift'.

Harry immediately put Rags family on his 'need to discuss privately' agenda, he had been compiling a list of things that he wanted to talk to Rags about at some point in the near future, but for the moment he moved their conversation topic away from Rags' family and his magical abilities and onto a matter very close to his heart, Quidditch. "Rags you're still coming to the tryouts this weekend aren't you?" Rags looked up from his dinner again and grinned "Would I ever hear the end of it if I didn't?" At Ginny and Harry's rather insistent no he quickly affirmed that he would indeed be going to the Quidditch tryouts, probably as a Beater, seeing as he had the wrong body shape and size for any of the other positions.

The days passed and things seemed to almost take on a routine, Snape was still a prat, McGonagall's transfiguration class was becoming more and more difficult, Rag's was slowly becoming more interested in Herbology, even though to be fair he was pretty average at it, and Charms and the other subjects homework had increased dramatically. "Well I've finished the Defence homework that Snape set, what about you two"? Asked Rags midway through the first week of term, Harry and Hermione looked up sharply, they were each looking through a large book on the Dark Arts, Snape's homework had been to write and essay, to rolls of parchment, on a Dark Spell including how to cast, effect, why it was considered dark and several instances where it had been used.

"Rags how can you be finished, Harry and I are still researching the spells we are going to write about, and you say that you have finished your _essay_." She immediately snatched the parchment from where Rags was sitting, he continued to pretend to write something on the now gone parchment, then acted surprised to find it gone, this action had the unfortunate side effect of making Ginny, who was sitting nearby doing fifth year Charms homework, burst into laughter.

Hermione though was a little shocked; Rags' essay was exceptionally thorough in explaining the spell that he had chosen it was the dark spell _Fiendfyre_. There was enough detail and evidence presented to get an O from any Defence Teacher, even Snape, there was only one thing that bothered her. She hadn't seen him read a book on the subject, so that left one of two options, either he had been doing a lot of reading in his spare time, meaning during the night, or he knew Dark Magic. This concerned Hermione a great deal, so she decided to breech the subject carefully.

"Rags, where did you get the information for this spell?" Rags seemed to stiffen as she spoke, "Why do you ask?" he replied in a soft voice. Hermione seemed to struggle with herself when she next spoke "It's just that this is a very dark piece of magic, and you didn't seem to research it, you just seemed to know most of the information about it."

Rags seemed to deflate, almost seemed to shrink into himself, shuddering a few times, "I'll tell you what I can, but not here, there are too many people who could listen into our conversation." Harry immediately stood up and said to Hermione and Ginny "The Room of Requirement then" so with that the four of them left the Gryffindor common room, unaware that the glaring eyes of Ronald Bilius Weasley followed their every move.

Rags stared in awe at the Room of Requirement, but his expression soon changed to one of deep thought as things went through his mind one after another and a plan slowly began to form. Shaking himself out of his reprieve he turned to the others and said "Maybe we should be seated for this" he indicated the couches that the room had provided for them. "Ok what did you want to talk to us about?" said Harry, who had become the unofficial spokesperson for the three of them, "It concerns what Hermione said when we were in the Common Room." Rags' took a deep breath "Now like I said before I can't tell you everything, but I will tell you what I can. If you want to ask me something then please ask it after I have finished, because if I stop then I won't finish it." He seemed to steady himself for what was to come; it was in that instance that Hermione felt that she saw him for the first time, he seemed at the same time to be older and a lot more vulnerable at the same time.

"As you know, I was born in Norway, in an area called Hemsko-Ulvfjord, it's in the north, a peaceful place mostly, mountains that stretch towards the sky and lakes and rivers winding their way down to the mighty fjord to the west. I never knew my mother's family, I was raised not in kindness but in hate, my mother died soon after I and my twin sister were born." Hermione gasped, not once had she, or any of them, heard Rags talk about his family, and never mention a sister.

"We were brought up by our _father's _associates" he almost snarled the parental title, "my father is an exceptionally dark wizard, he is very highly placed among the Death Eaters. You seem surprised, you never wondered why the Aurors never found the Dark Lord here in Britain, before Harry defeated him when he was one? Or even when he was rising to power, and recruiting followers among other European nations, which he was actively doing during his rise to power. Well we were raised by Death Eaters, I was taught magic, both Light and Dark, and other things, things I don't want to talk about right now. When I say that I was taught that is what I mean, my sister...Freya" he said her name like a prayer "was not taught magic, even though she would have been exceptionally gifted."

The three looked like they were seeing Rags for the first time, even though they could easily tell that he was not giving them the whole story. But before any of them were able to ask a question Rags had continued with his tale.

"To say that my childhood was abusive, would be like saying that Harry was adopted by the Dursley's as their own son, and he was given his every desire." Harry gulped at that, he had spoken to Rags about his childhood hoping to get Rags to open up to him but that had failed until now, he had suspected that Rags had been the victim of a bad childhood, but he wasn't sure how bad.

Rags sighed and continued on "Like I said I was taught loads of things, terrible things, and my only real friend and companion was a house elf called Dizzy, she helped me and my sister more than she could ever know. She almost took on the role of a maternal figure to us; she couldn't protect us much because she was bonded to the family where we were raised. When I turned fifteen things got really bad, the teaching was stepped up a notch, the beatings increased; I was pushed harder, trained to give into anger, hate. It didn't work; all that they taught me sort of blew up in their faces, the Death Eater that owned Dizzy was killed by my father for some perceived slight, and that they freed her to help Freya and I."

He steeled himself for the next part as it was the hardest to tell _'I can't tell it all, that forbannet_ _oath is still in effect'_

"We tried to escape, long story short, we were able to get out of the estate where we were held, with no small help from Dizzy, but then Freya…Freya was killed. Dizzy got me out of there and I have been living in England ever since." He glanced around and looked Harry, Ginny and Hermione in the eye "Very well if you want to ask me questions go ahead, but I might not answer all of them and you may not like all the answers that you get."

Hermione jumped in first with tears in her eyes "I'm sorry that you had to live through that, and I'm sorry that I grilled you about that stupid essay." Rags just looked at her with tired eyes "Forget about it Hermione, you have a brilliant inquisitive mind and you saw something that didn't add up, so you went and tried to find out more, there is nothing wrong with that." Hermione couldn't help the flush that appeared in her cheeks or the flutter in her belly at his words _'Calm down girl' _she thought to herself.

Ginny spoke up next "Rags have you ever used Dark Magic?" Rags gave her one of those _'Stupid Question' _looks. "Oh right sorry" she said in a timid voice. "No its fine and the answer is yes, I have used Dark Magic, how do you think we got out of the estate? I know a lot of dark spells; I am not going to go teaching them to anyone, I don't want to turn out like _him_." They realised that Rags was talking about his father and that it was a bad topic for conversation.

"If it's ok with you three could we leave this conversation there, it's getting late and we need the sleep" Harry nodded and said "Sure Rags, come on you lot lets get back to the common room before Filch and Norris find us and take points away in our first week." Hermione Ginny and Harry moved to leave but found Rags examining the Room of Requirement a bit, seeing what he could make appear and such, "Rags you coming?" asked Hermione, Rags turned around and gave her a small smile "Not at the moment, I'll just look around here a bit more, but before you go is this where you held the DA last year?" Harry nodded his head wondering what rags could possibly be doing in the Room of Requirement when the other three of them were not there. "Don't worry you three I'll still be waiting for you on the couch in the morning like I have been." At that the three of them left the room and headed back to the common room, doing as they had been doing for many years, avoiding Peeves, Filch and Mrs Norris.

'_You told them much, but not everything correct?" _said the sinister voice in his mind _'You know that I can't tell them everything, the oath mind me for another month.' _The voice seemed to cackle in his head _'But still, will you tell them your worst secret or will you continue in friendship under a cloud of lies?'_ He snarled, his face contorting to a mask of rage _'I do not lie, I will tell them the truth even though it…' _the voice was softer now still mocking _'Even though it will break you and break their trust in you.' _The only response he could give was _'Yes'_ from then on there was silence in his mind, he didn't know why this occurred, but the voice was usually correct, he supposed it was his conscience in a manner of speaking. The only thing that scared Ragnar so much about the voice was that it wasn't some mythical demon; it was his own voice speaking to him.

A/N Ok trying to add a bit of a backstory and a bit more depth to Rags' character here. Trying to show that he has flaws and failures, if it doesn't come across too well sorry, but there is a more detailed explanation in an upcoming chapter. Also more on Rags' Telekinetic abilities in the next chapter, along with Quidditch, what's in the box and maybe Harry will discover something about himself, but that's enough spoilers  . Thanks Read and Review TBK


	6. Quidditch, Swords and More

A/N: Thanks for reviewing guys and in answer to pstibbons question about Freya, yes she is dead, but this is a world of Magic so almost anything can happen.  I won't give anymore away now.

Ron was in a foul temper, this was supposed to be his year, his time to shine and get the girl. He had come to this realization when he had seen how Ginny was looking at a picture of Harry before they left to go to Grimmauld place earlier in the year, he thought _'That could be me…No will be me and Hermione, Once she sees that Harry will be with Ginny she will want someone else to be with like that, and that's when it will be my time'_, but no the uppity witch said that she didn't care for him as a boyfriend, didn't like him that way, but that wasn't good enough for Ron. He wanted Hermione, all he had to do was find a way to get her, but it would be hard as she was going all moon-eyed over the new guy. Well Ron would show him, he would challenge him and prove that he was better than this scarred pretty boy, and he'd do it when Valerian was least expecting it.

--

It was the Saturday morning scheduled for the Gryffindor Quidditch trials, surprisingly most of Gryffindor House had turned up for the trials, much to Harry's delight, there were also a few people from other houses there, much to Harry's annoyance. He had got down to the pitch a good hour before the allotted time for the trials, firstly to calm his nerves, being Quidditch Captain wasn't as easy as he thought it was back in First Year. He had noticed that Ron was there, dressed in some of the school's spare Keeper gear, he would have to get some of his own if he was picked, at the moment he was waiting for the stragglers to come along, well actually he was waiting for Rags and Hermione to get there, they had agreed to come down last after everyone had gone past them in the Great Hall, to make sure that everyone who wanted to try out was given the opportunity.

Although Rags had asked them to forget their conversation in the Room of Requirement, none of the other three had. They didn't pester him about it but the did treat him a little differently, not so much that people noticed, but Rags did, they treated him like one of their own, someone who had gone through something terrible and had lived to tell the tale, Rags had never been happier.

Harry looked over at Ginny and she shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she had no idea that there were this many people in Gryffindor that were interested in joining the team, he pulled her in for a quick kiss, which drew one or two catcalls from the assembled Gryffindor's before the stragglers arrived and he had to officially start the tryouts, he turned and looked back at the castle and saw the shapes of Rags and Hermione making their way down to the Quidditch pitch. He frowned slightly, during September he had slowly grown apart from his two best friends, Ron because he was always pursuing Hermione and not giving her any space, and Hermione because she was giving him grief about the Potions book he ahd picked up from Professor Slughorn. She was always going on about it, even the other Gryffindor's were starting to get irritated with her, it seemed, to Harry, that the only one with the patience to stand her at the moment was Rags. To tell the truth Harry was just irritated with Hermione for accusing him of cheating because he was following a book that made different suggestions to the potions that they were making than the prescribed text, and as such he was getting better marks than her.

"I just don't understand how he can use that book, the methods are not in the textbooks, there were just _written_ in there by the previous owner this Half Blood Prince, they could be for anything I mean he didn't even know if they would work, it's…" "HERMIONE" the loud bellow not only shocked Hermione into silence it shocked most of the assembled Gryffindor house into silence also. Rags, was almost glaring at Hermione, something that the young witch found quite scary. "Now that I have your attention, I understand that you are frustrated by being beaten in Potions class; I understand that you are annoyed because the instructions that Harry used are not the normal method; but you need to ask yourself a question. Is this book worth risking your friendship with Harry?" With that he walked towards the rest of the group a shrugged off his outer school robe.

It was then that the rest of the assembled Quidditch player hopefuls realised that he wasn't wearing the training robes of Gryffindor house, like the rest of them were. He was wearing a light grey top, which looked like it was made out of several bits of grey coloured fabric, all layered together to make a comfortable, padded, light garment. He was wearing black pants that were loose enough for comfort but tight enough for fast movement, he was also wearing black boots, which buckled at the side, all in all he made quite an imposing figure, and more than one of the girls felt their hearts flutter at the appearance of this handsome young man, although it was completely missed by the man in question. Walking over to the pile of Quidditch equipment Rags selected himself a thick wooden bat, twirling it through his fingers he nodded to himself as though satisfied with something, he nodded to Harry and said "I think we're all here Harry, ready when you are."

Harry shook himself out of his shock as he saw an upset Hermione make her way into the stands, he had heard what Rags had said, and knew there was something wrong with Hermione but this was not the time to address that problem. "Ok, well for those of you who don't know me" there were more than a few giggles at that statement, even Rags cracked a grin "well welcome to the Gryffindor house Quidditch tryouts, those of you who pass today will immediately be posted to the team, now all positions are up for grabs so everyone is on an even footing, the six that are picked today will be joined by two reserves, now lets get started Chasers first. Ginny you played Seeker last year when I couldn't play so I want you up there with the first bunch, ok let's get started."

It soon became apparent that some of the hopefuls were only there to be close to Harry, these were quickly dismissed with an annoyed remark, along with the irritating amount of girls from the other houses, most had come out to see Harry, but a non small amount had come out to see Rags, something, that to the amusement of Harry, seemed to scare Rags. Rags proved he was to be an excellent choice for beater, his flying could use some improvement, but his large size and physical prowess made him a natural choice, a boy called Jimmy Peakes was selected to be the other beater. Once the process was underway it soon became apparent who was going to be on the team and who was not, at the end of the tryout session the team was, posted on the Gryffindor notice board and submitted to Professor McGonagall for final approval.

_Gryffindor Quidditch Team_

_Chasers__: Katie Bell, Demelza Robbins, Ginny Weasley _

_Seeker__: Harry Potter (Captain)_

_Keeper__: Ronald Weasley_

_Beaters__: Ragnar Valerian, Jimmy Peakes _

_Reserves__: Mike Jones, Jenny Frakes_

But perhaps the best thing that came out from the Quidditch trials was the fact that Hermione apologised to Harry for her recent behaviour. She had said that she didn't know what was wrong with her, that she ahd stuck with him through worse things that some sill Potions book and that she was very confused and upset by the whole thing. Harry being Harry forgave her on the spot, dried the tears that were flowing down her cheeks and told her that he wasn't the only one that she needed to speak to about the matter, she also owed Rags an apology for nattering, whining and bitching at him for more than a week about Harry and his potions book, but when the pair of them and Ginny looked around for their large friend he was nowhere to be seen, as the three of them went laughing and joking back towards the castle, neither of them noticed the scowling figure of Ron Weasley standing near the Quidditch changing rooms, the ideas running through his mind were both dark and dangerous, involving the eventual winning of Hermione and the removal of Ragnar Thorkild Valerian.

--

It was a few days after the Quidditch trials, and September was well and truly heading towards October, the school was getting colder, with student s spending less and less time in the corridors between classes and wearing thicker and thicker clothing, so much that some of the first years looked like fast moving balls of wool. Hermione had never gotten the chance to talk to Rags after the Quidditch trials, he seemed to withdraw from his friends, almost like something was eating away at him, Hermione charged herself with finding out what it was, she and the others still spoke with him during the day and evenings, but almost as soon as the others started to drift towards bed he was gone, nowhere to be found.

Hermione didn't know why she had wandered down to the common room that night, but something seemed to draw her out, maybe it was the fact that there appeared to be no danger and or mystery going on this year as there had for the last five years. She entered the common room and noticed that there was no one else there, she pulled her robe tighter and was about to return to bed when she noticed that there was a satchel, very like the one that she and most of the other, slightly more studious, students favoured. Hermione picked up the bag and noticed two things about it at the same time, one it was filled with sixth year books, the other were the initials inscribed on the buckle R.T.V., Hermione had found Rags' bag, she looked around for any sign of him, but the common room was just as deserted as before.

Summoning her Gryffindor courage she crept to the door of the boys dormitory and gently edged open the door and snuck a look inside, noting that Harry was sleeping in his bed, so was Neville, Dean, Seamus, even Ron, but Rags' bed was definitely empty. She hurried over to Harry's bed and gently eased the Marauders Map from its hiding place underneath his pillow, she then took a huge gamble on their friendship and snuck the invisibility cloak out of his trunk and threw it round her shoulders, now she had a friend to find, and the means to do it.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" whispered Hermione just outside the portrait hole, while tapping the Marauders Map with her wand. She and Harry had discovered something quite interesting about the map, it had not shown the room of requirement before as the holder of the mad did not know where the room was located, but seeing as they now knew, as did all the members of the DA, the position was shown on the map, along with whoever happened to be inside. Quickly unfolding the section that detailed the Room of Requirement Hermione noticed that indeed there was a Ragnar Thorkild Valerian in the room, although the figure seemed to be darting about exceptionally quickly, too quickly to be walking or pacing. But that was not all, there was another figure in the Room, that of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Hermione reached the seventh floor corridor with little difficulty, when you had been sneaking around the school after hours as much as she, Harry and Ron had during their five years at Hogwarts you become remarkably good at beating the castles security. She walked around three times to summon the door to the Room of Requirement, all the time thinking _'I need a way to get into where Ragnar Valerian and Albus Dumbledore are, without them seeing me'_ much to her surprise after her third lap a shimmering oval appeared in the wall, shrugging her shoulder Hermione thought to herself _'Well if Harry and Ron were here we would already be through the door so its up to me to try to get myself killed…or expelled'_ with a shudder she quickly darted through the door, it closed seamlessly behind her, what she saw shocked her to complete stillness.

--

There was only stillness and silence, no sound reached his ears, yet all sounds reached his ears, his eyes at one time saw nothing and everything. Every iota of concentration in his body was focused on the blade in his hands and the song that this blade sang. The song was accompanied by the solid sound of the blade biting deep into the targets, deflecting their blades, and quite effectively, and literally, reducing them to mere pieces of there former selves. Then the wand came into play, thirteen inches of ebony with a dragon heartstring core, curses and hexes flew faster than the thoughts that were used to cast them, no incantations were heard, but by looking at the spells one could see that they were of a Dark alignment.

Soon there was nothing left and the shadowy figure drew himself up to his full height and spoke with a voice that Hermione knew all to well "There you are Professor that is a result of what we spoke about at the beginning of the year" Ragnar turned his sword hanging loosely by his side to face Professor Dumbledore who had moved out of the shadows, where he had been summoning the shadowy opponents that Rags had dispatched. "Very impressive Mr Valerian, although there is, I believe, someone else that you need to talk to at the moment." He indicated, with a nod of his head, to where Hermione still stood under the invisibility cloak, "Until we next meet Ragnar" with that he strode from the room and closed the door behind him.

Ragnar on the other had had whirled around to face where Hermione stood and seemed to slump over now that someone else knew one of his secrets "You may as well come out where I can see you." Hermione slowly pulled the cloak over her head and looked at Rags with several things shining in her eyes, fear, awe, confusion and many questions. Ragnar slipped his want into his arm holster and with a flourish sheathed his long katana in its midnight black sheath angling downwards from his left hip "Go on Hermione ask away, I won't lie?"

A/N Ok first shot at a cliffie, tell me what you think, too much, too little, yes before anyone says it, I am giving Rags more abilities, no he will not be a god character, but I have a very specific kind of character in mind. If you have a question about Rags, send me a message, or leave ur question in a review (hint hint) and I'll be happy to answer, so long as I don't give the plot away. Oh anyone who guesses the plot gets a cookie  Cheers everyone TBK


	7. Letters, Promises and Healing

A/N: I understand pstibbons why you don't like the acceptance of Hermione's behaviour but I'm going to put something in about it either in this chapter or the next, its all explained in a flashback, and I am putting in a possible reason for Hermione's actions in this chapter too. As to why Rags doesn't really comment on it aside from at the Quidditch trials that will be explained to. Thanks for the reviews TBK

Hermione was still standing in shocked silence in regards as to what she had witnessed, the things Rags had done should be physically impossible "How? How…how did you do that? Where did you learn? Where did you get the sword? Those moves should be physically impossible. I mean… are you laughing at me?" He was indeed Rags was chuckling away where he stood, "So many questions, and all in one breath. Here sit down" he drew his wand and with a flick there were two comfortable chairs facing each other with a small table resting between them.

"Well firstly it was one of the things that I was taught in my youth, great now I sound old, I was taught from a very early age the fighting style that you witnessed, it is very old it is known as Kuro-Uindo, which literally means Black Wind. It is a dark wizard's style of fighting with a blade, aggressive with many strokes used as kill strikes. As for the moves being physically impossible, Hermione we live in a world where one of the standard modes of transportation is sitting on a cleaning instrument." This last comment took the seriousness out of the conversation and had the desired affect of Hermione giggling, breaking the tension that was in the room.

Hermione got herself under control "Ok I think I deserved that last comment, but before we continue there is something that I want to say. I'm sorry for how I have been acting, whining, and complaining like a spoiled little girl. I don't know why I acted that way, I have stuck with my friends through much stronger things than a book of magic that offers different ideas, and I don't know why my grades became more important than my friendships" she was sobbing at this time.

Rags then did something that he hadn't done before, at least in the presence of his friends, he initiated a hug. He got up from his chair and left his sword upon it and gently pulled Hermione into an embrace "Hey it's alright Hermione, look I'm not the best person to ask about anything to do with friendship, but I understand that they forgive each other. Also with my background I have no right to judge anyone."

Hermione was a little taken aback with the embrace, even though she was still sobbing slightly into his shirt, she had hugged Rags a few times, but Hermione hugged all of her friends, but this was the first one that _he_ had initiated with her, and it felt nice, _very_ nice. It was strangely comforting to have someone who she hadn't known for very long but trusted so much hold her while she wept. She frowned ever so slightly at his negative comment about himself, but it was something that they would have to address at another time, for now she wanted answers.

"Thanks I needed that" she pulled away from his embrace and took a good look at him; he was dressed similarly to how he had been at the Quidditch trials, almost identical in fact. Except the shirt-robe he wore was black and felt like it had been woven from silk, _'Very flattering' _she thought to herself with a small smile and a blush, his pants were some form of leather, and like his Quidditch pants, hugged his legs very nicely but still gave room for movement, he was also wearing black boots with silver buckles adorned with strange glyph like sigils, and a black outer robe that seemed to be thicker and heavier than it should have been, this too was adorned with similar sigils to his boots, and his belt buckle, although Hermione would deny she ever looked there.

"You're not getting out it that easily Rags, now tell me about your sword, its Japanese isn't it?" she pointed at the seat where the long katana rested. Rags nodded "Yes, it's a katana, it actually has a name is called _Matsuro_, which in Japanese literally means fate, as to how I got it, well I made it."

Hermione was shocked "You _made_ it, but how? It takes years to learn how to forge swords, especially Japanese swords which are very complex" at his quizzical look at her apparent knowledge of the craft Hermione said "My Dad, he's is a sword enthusiast, he is also a black belt in kendo so I've picked up a thing or two." Rags nodded his head and said "Well as to how I learned to make them it's quite simple, the man who taught me Kuro-Uindo, known as Hirohito Yamatada, a rather deranged half human half goblin. He was both a master of Kuro-Uindo and the art of forging swords, sadly enough he squandered that talent serving my father and the Death Eaters, I'm not sure why because they are all usually pureblood mad."

Hermione, desperate to get off the depressing topic grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the other chair "Show me, I only saw it from a distance while you were using it, let me see it up close." Rags shrugged and grasped the long midnight black sheath in his left hand, holding it so that the edge of the blade was facing the ceiling, and drew it from its sheath. The blade was bright shimmering silver, with etched glyphs and runes going almost two thirds of the way down the blade on each side, it curved slightly and was single edged, with a faint waved pattern on the edge. Just by looking at it Hermione could tell that it was a superb example of craftsmanship, she watched as the candles in the room sent ripples of fire along the blade as Rags moved it ever so slowly.

Suddenly the blade seemed to flash within a deadly arc and it took all of Hermione's self control not to take a step back, until she noticed that the blade was now facing her hilt first, she noted that the black cloth wrapping of the long two handed hilt had two silver ornaments that looked like striking serpents on each side, and the guard was a mix of blackened iron and silver twisted to make a whirlwind like pattern, in short the over all effect was nothing short of stunning. "Take it" Rags said, "but be warned it is not a normal sword."

Hermione reached forward and gently took the sword in her right hand, the balance was flawless, she moved the sword slightly and she felt an almost imperceptible shudder through the blade. She turned wide eyed to Rags "It's alive" she whispered. Rags then did something that she did not expect, he laughed, "No Hermione it isn't alive, it's aware, Matsuro senses the wielders intent and acts accordingly. It took me a long time to dig up the spell that would allow me to imbue the blade with that quality."

Hermione then realised he had not answered the other part of her question "So how did you learn to forge swords, learn dark magic, learn normal magic, and let's not forget all the practical and theoretical knowledge you seem to know, as well as learn English?" Rags looked at her raised his eyebrow and said "So much for only a few questions" he grinned at her faint blush "Well" he took back he sword and sheathed it with a flourish "its quite simple really, they used a time turner, as you know from your exploits in your third year, a time turner takes you back in time, a lesser known fact is that it also stops you aging until you reach the time of when the time turner was used. So if you were to spend two years in one set of rooms, then use a powerful time turner to go back to just before you entered those rooms and enter another set of rooms that you didn't go in for the previous two years then" he let his explanation end there, trusting Hermione's natural intelligence to figure the rest out.

"So how many times did you repeat that process?" Hermione whispered, she could hardly imagine what going back and repeating things like that would do to a person, emotionally and psychologically. Rags shook his head indicating that he did not want to talk about it. He glanced at his wristwatch and noticed the time, it was quarter past four in the morning, looking up he said "Hermione it is too late for you to be wandering the corridors, no matter that it is Saturday tomorrow, well today, you are a Prefect. Go on I need to finish up here, don't worry I'll be in the common room waiting for you for breakfast" that last part was said with a grin, it had become a game among the four friends to try to beat Rags down to the common room in the morning, so far no one had succeeded.

He walked with her to the doorway and indicated that she should put on the cloak again "I hope you won't tell anyone about this, I have a certain mystery about me but this would just freak people out" Hermione couldn't help but grin at that statement, in all her years at Hogwarts she had noticed a few things about the students and the wizarding populace in general, they lived in a world of magic and so they were very superstitious, Rags being such a powerful wizard, knowing the spells he knows and knowing how to fight like a dark wizard, well that would be too much for many of the students.

"On one condition" she said with a little smirk, which only grew wider at the shocked expression on his face "you have to promise to teach me how to defend myself, and eventually some others if we start the DA up again, but I want to learn some of your fighting style, my Dad was always disappointed I didn't take up a sport when younger, agreed?" she held out her hand for him to shake. After standing there for a moment Rags large hand clasped around her own, the tough skin and strong calluses very defined against her smaller softer hand "Very well Hermione I'll teach you, it wont be easy, it won't be gentle and you'll have to do exactly as I say otherwise you may injure yourself, alright?" he got a nod in return.

Hermione gave him one last smile before she disappeared through the same door that she entered by. After she had gone Rags sighed and said to no one in particular "I hope she knows what she is getting herself into" there was a faint sound behind him, not loud, but enough to get his attention _'Sneaky Dumbledore, very sneaky'_ with a single movement his sword was drawn, and the practice session continued.

--

Hermione was excited as she rushed down the staircase from the girls dorms to the Gryffindor common room, she had not gotten a wink of sleep after she had gotten back from the Room of Requirement, her thoughts had been filled with the flickering lights that had played along the blade of Matsuro, and also the movements of its wielder, not that she had payed that close an attention to that of course, but also about his promise to teach her defence, and the others when the DA starts up again, she amended to herself. She got to the bottom of the staircase and snorted in annoyance, there was Rags dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt, jeans and trainers sitting as usual on the couch waiting for everyone to come down from their dorms.

"How do you keep doing that?" she asked him as she plonked herself down on the couch next to him, he smirked at her and replied "You know Harry asked me the exact same question, and my answer is the same" he motioned her closer until his lips were next to her ear, she gave an unconscious shiver as his warm breath touched her skin, "the answer is" he said, recapturing her attention, "magic." When Harry and Ginny came down from their dorms they noticed Rags and Hermione laughing on the couch, Harry sent a quizzical look at his girlfriend who by asking Hermione "He told the magic joke again didn't he?" at Hermione's nod they all joined in the laughter, seeing at as the wizarding world generally accepted that Voldemort had returned laughter was rare enough to find, so most people laughed when they could.

--

The friends arrived the Great Hall for breakfast and quickly got their seats at the Gryffindor table, the great thing about weekends at Hogwarts was that breakfast went on longer and was a much more casual affair, seeing as no one had to rush off to class, so there were more people sitting around enjoying a leisurely breakfast. The foursome ate a leisurely breakfast and chatted animatedly with Neville, Dean, Seamus, and Katie Bell even Parvati Patil came over and chatted to the group, much to the annoyance of her friend Lavender Brown, who was stuck talking to Ron Weasley.

Hermione felt something being pushed into the pocket of her jeans and glanced at Rags who was sitting next to her, but was talking to Seamus about something, gain something tugged on her sleeve this time so she looked down and saw Rags' left hand pointing at her pocket, tapping his hand to let him know she got it she took out the scrap of parchment that was in her pocket, it said:

--

_Tonite Room of Requirement _

_At 8:30 wear exercise clothes, and try to get Harry's invisibility cloak as well, you don't want to get caught out after curfew. Bring note taking equipment if you want, I'll answer all your questions about what I will teach you, so bring anything that you think will help._

_R.T.V_

_--_

Grinning she tucked the scrap of parchment back in her pocket and continued with breakfast, no noticing the glare that she and Rags were receiving from Ron. When the four of them had finished it was decided that they would go for a walk, to help settle their slightly larger breakfast, before going to visit Hagrid, who had sent a letter to Harry that morning that said:

--

_Hello Harry, and whichever one of you lot who is reading over his shoulder_

_Just want to let you know that I have something for you, Hermione and Ginny, and I would like to give it to you today, round eleven if that's good for you. Oh and bring Rags with you, there is one here for him too, it's a surprise but it's to do with a Care of Magical Creatures project that he is doing._

_Cheers_

_Hagrid_

_--_

The four, three of them in their winter cloaks to keep out the chill, and Rags in his summer cloak as he said "I'm used to cooler weather than this", casually walked round the lake, Harry with his arm around Ginny, and Rags and Hermione with their hands in their pockets enjoying the cool weather. Then the heard a yell "Oi Valerian what do you think you're doing with my girl" Rags looked up in confusion only to see Ronald Weasley stomping towards them a loom of anger on his face.

"Have I missed something in the last two weeks?" Rags asked the four before Ron reached them. "No Rags you haven't Ron is just being a prat, I'll sort him out" with that Hermione stomped off towards Ron with an equally angry expression on her face. Rags just stood there wide eyed wondering what the hell was going on with Hermione and the others, Harry just had a resigned look on his face as though he had seen this sort of thing before, Ginny looked rather pissed off.

While Ron was trying to get Hermione to calm down and go somewhere with him, she was currently yelling at him, using some rather inventive swear words. "Um would you guys explain why Hermione looks like she is going to tear Ginny's brother's head off?" Ginny got in first before Harry had the chance to say anything "It's because he fancies Hermione, and he hasn't been able to got it through that thick skull of his that she doesn't like him back. So he keeps pursuing her regardless, and right now he appears to be using up the last of the goodwill that their friendship created. Also by going after Hermione even though she has told him repeatedly that she doesn't like him like that is pushing Harry and myself away, he has even got our mother involved helping him to get Hermione."

Rags didn't reply, and idea was forming in his mind, in relation to what Ginny had just told him about her brother and his attempts to woo Hermione, and that his mother was involved. _'Could it be that, but that spell hasn't been used in more than a century, but most pureblood families know it, or at least know of it, but it was banned by the International Conglomeration of Sorcery and Witchcraft in 1723. By general acclaim if I recall, this must be looked into more.'_ He thought to himself before turning back to the two arguing students.

"Hermione I get it, you're playing hard to get but it has gone on long enough, if you keep this up I might not have you in the end, and neither of us want that right? So come on lets go somewhere private" Hermione couldn't even form a sentence after hearing this, so she did the only thing that she really could in response to a comment like that, she slapped Ron again, hard. Over where the other three were standing Harry and Rags winced slightly and Rags said "She's not bad at that is she?" Harry looked over at his friend and said "Yep, I don't know but I think that she might have been practicing" Ginny, of course, just grinned.

Ron saw red, and it wasn't his hair, Hermione had just slapped him again in front of his best mate, in his opinion, and his little sister. She had no right to do that, she had just taken everything much too far, he suddenly reached foreword and grabbed her right arm with his left hand, spinning her round as she turned away so that she was forced to face him again. "Where the hell do you get off slapping me like that? You should be damned appreciative that someone like me would take interest in someone like you" Hermione was shocked, and getting closer to tears _'How many other people see me like this'_ she wondered to herself until she felt someone step up next to her.

Looking up as someone approached, Ron found himself staring up into the scarred face of Ragnar Valerian, a _very_ angry Ragnar Valerian. "I suggest that you let Hermione go before you get hurt Weasley" he growled out. Ron was about to make a snide reply when he saw something that took away all that was left of his Gryffindor courage, there was something dangerous flickering in the big Norwegian's eyes, something that promised pain if he didn't do as he was told, something cold and unforgiving. Slowly Ron let go of Hermione and backed away a little "This isn't over" he said before storming his way back to the castle _'He turned her against me, well he'll get what's coming to him, I just need to send another letter to mom again for some more advice on this.'_

Harry and Ginny had seen Ron grab Hermione and honestly couldn't believe he went that far and were about to step in when Rags walked over, Ginny was sure that her brother was going to get his face rearranged. Ginny was a brave girl but when she heard the tone of his voice it sent a chill down her spine, and she had been at the Department of Mysteries last year, she came to the conclusion that there was more to Rags than meets that eye.

"Are you alright?" Rags asked, in a concerned voice, as he turned to Hermione. She nodded her head but rubbed her arm unconsciously where Ron had grabbed her, Ron may not be the strongest guy around but Quidditch did keep you in shape, and Keepers had to have strong grips to block oppositions shots at goal, so she knew that there would be bruising on her arm.

She felt Rags gently take her arm in his hands and say "Here let me see", Hermione, wondering what he was doing, but trusting that it would help and not be painful let him do what he was doing, he rolled up her sleeve to expose her arm where she had been grabbed, and exposed the area where the bruising had already started to form. Harry and Ginny had come up to the pair, Harry tucking his wand back in his pocket, he ahd drawn it when Ron grabbed Hermione, "Oh you poor thing that must be painful" his attention immediately snapped back to Hermione and Rags at Ginny's exclamation, looking at Hermione's arm he winced slightly, the bruised area was already starting to look puffy and inflamed, and it was also turning an angry red/purple colour, he felt himself getting angrier, in his mind by hurting Hermione, Ron had officially ended their friendship.

Rags frowned slightly, _'Maybe I should have 'words' with Weasley at some point about this incident'_, snapping out of his train of thought he quickly re-focussed his attention on Hermione's arm bruises. "I may be able to help with these, don't mistake me I am no healer, but I know something that helps with bruising and swelling, will you let me try?" Hermione nodded, although not a severe injury, the bruising on her arms was quite painful, and would only get worse before they healed completely.

"Hold still" Rags said, he let go of Hermione's arm and brought his hand up close to his own face, almost in a prayer like position, the other three jumped slightly as a sharp crack echoed around them, the result of Rags clapping his hands together, hard if the sound was anything to be judged by. Confusing the others, he blew gently into his now cupped hands then placed his left hand under Hermione's arm and his right over the top of the bruising.

Hermione was shocked, she was expecting some form of spell, not this strange 'ritual' for lack of a better word, but then she felt something strange. Rags' hands seemed almost unnaturally warm, she actually felt the tensed bruised flesh on her arms relax and be soothed by the warm sensation coming from the hands that covered her injury. Looking at her arm she noticed that no special magic was being performed, but the swelling and the bruising seemed to have gone down a little. She couldn't stop the sigh escaping her lips as Rags gently massaged the top of her arm with his right hand while holding the arm still with his left, when he finished he said "There that should help a little."

Hermione was ecstatic, her arm felt much better, still sore but not in anywhere near the amount of pain that it was in. She spun round and enveloped Rags in a very traditional Hermione Granger hug, "Rags thank you so much, my arm feels much better than it was, and thank you for stepping in with Ronald, things were getting a little out of hand."

Rags grinned in response and said "Not a problem Hermione, what are friends for, if you can't rely on them in situations like that? On another note shouldn't we be getting on to Hagrid's?" Harry nodded and said "Yeah we should probably get going."

So the four of them headed of in the direction of Hagrid's hut, Harry holding hands with Ginny, and Rags with his arm over Hermione's shoulder and her arm around his waist, she ahd refused to let him go after he had helped her arm. All of them were wondering what Hagrid had in store for them at his hut.

A/N Ok I know this is a fair bit longer than the other chapters, just got into the story and couldn't really find a place to stop lol. Ok before anyone complains the technique that Rags used is not some sort of super secret power or anything, its actually a traditional muscle relaxation technique, my old Karate Sensei showed it to me, and some other friends of mine who do martial arts also use it, so I'm not just making stuff up, I put it in cause I want Rags to do other things than just beat people up, hopefully I showed his darker side a little bit in this chapter. I will say it again he, Rags, isn't a Mary Sue, I'm getting round to putting that part in. Thanks please review, cheers again TBK


	8. Eggs, Spells and Parcels

A/N: monnbeam Rags and Hermione will be getting together shortly, prob in the chapter after this one, as for Ron getting a beat down, he will get one, you can rest assured in that, but it might not be for a few chapters.

"I'm wonder when this thing is going to hatch?" Rags asked the others as he lay back on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room, it had been just over a week since they had visited Hagrid and the visit was one of the most enjoyable in all their time at Hogwarts, at least for Ginny, Hermione and Harry, and it was a good time to introduce Rags to Hagrid's version of cooking and baking.

_Flashback:_

"_Hello you lot" said a cheery Hagrid as the foursome arrived at his front door, "Come on in, tea anyone" he got four yeses to tea, and one yes from Rags to try one of his special rock cakes, this had the other's snickering behind their hands. _

_Once they were all settled and had rather large mugs of tea in their hands Hagrid passed round a plate of rock cakes, no one took any except Rags. "So you all must be wondering why I asked you down here, oh here let me take your cloaks, fire's warmed the house up nicely." He went round a took everyone's cloak from them, and was fortunately hanging them on hooks in the back of his hut when Rags decided to take a bite out if his cake, it was also fortunate he didn't hear the sniggers that three of the students were making, and the death glares that the fourth was returning to them._

"_How's the cake Rags?" Harry asked innocently as Hagrid returned, Rags made a show of chewing and enjoying the bite of the cake, that he was sure chipped three of his teeth. "Oh it's a treat Harry, you should really try one, go on Professor Hagrid see what Harry thinks of your cakes." Hagrid beamed, and told Rags to call him Hagrid, calling him Professor made him look round for who they were addressing, he so enjoyed it when people liked his home cooking, he expectantly passed the tray of cakes around to Harry, who shot his own glare at Rags whom just smiled innocently back._

_After the cakes had been put away, or eaten in Rags' case, he found after soaking them in his tea for a few minutes, approximately ten, they weren't that bad, or maybe he ahd an Iron stomach, the others were not too sure, Hagrid got down to business. "Ok what I got you here for is I have something for you, it's to do with the class that I'm taking to N.E.W.T. level" at this Rags perked up and stopped rubbing his jaw "yes Rags yours is here too" Hagrid them moved to the back of the hut and came out with four bundles, the group unwrapped them, they had their names on them so that they knew whose was whose, they were eggs, Blahdress Eggs. _

_Rags wore a huge grin on his face, not one of his small, now almost trademark, smiles but a full blown really happy grin. "Wow Hagrid how did you get these? I didn't even think that there were any of these outside of the Department for the Control of Potentially Dangerous Magical Creatures." The others just looked amazed at the large eggs on the kitchen table, there four of them, one green, one red, one honey coloured and one black. _

_Ginny looked at the eggs, sure they looked pretty cool, "Um Hagrid what are these things?" she and Harry both turned to Hermione, who shrugged and said "What I don't know" Harry gasped "Say it isn't so" Hermione and Ginny just smacked him on the head. _

_Surprisingly, or not, it was Rags who answered the question, after an affirmative nod from Hagrid, "They are called Blahdress Eggs, they are exceptionally rare, they are also one of the few true mysteries of magic that no one can come up with a theory for, or at least no theory that is plausible." He looked to Hagrid who nodded his head to continue "If you were to break open the Eggs now what would you find, a creature? Yolk? You would find something that Wizarding scientists can only describe as a form of magical essence, something that is not living or dead, but once the egg comes into the hand of the person that it wants to bond with then the magical essence within the egg begins to change. It assumed qualities that are related to the person that it has bonded to, but it also depends on the kind of creature that your own magic believes will be an appropriate bond companion for you." Rags looked a little embarrassed after his long speech, but Hagrid beamed and said "That will be twenty points to Gryffindor, well done Rags, how on Earth did you remember all of that?"_

_Rags grinned sheepishly, "I read the book that you loaned me on the subject about three times and managed to commit a lot of what was said to memory, it was just so interesting and provided so many different kinds of theories analysis and research results into magical creatures I couldn't put it down." Hagrid laughed at that and said to the group "Looks like we have found the male Hermione in Rags", this statement caused several reactions in the cabin, Harry and Ginny laughed, Hagrid smiled his trademark large smile, Hermione glared at the half-giant, and Rags surprisingly blushed slightly. _

"_Well now, I suppose I can't take up much more of your time, so here is the deal. You each get an egg, you have to hold it for at least an hour every day, or you can sleep with it in your bed at night, they both work. But you have to understand, when they hatch, the animals are bonded to you, they will be able to communicate with you, and can't be handed off to someone else, agree to this or you don't get an egg." Hagrid told the four of them seriously, Rags and Harry agreed straight away followed closely by Ginny and Hermione. "Alright then, Rags yours is this one, the black egg, Hermione yours is the blue one, Ginny you have the red egg and Harry yours is the green egg ." _

_As they picked up their eggs, they seemed to grow warm and glowed softly for a few seconds. Rags spoke up "It feels like, like I am now somehow connected to the egg its amazing" the others nodded in agreement, their eggs seemed to be warm to the touch and when they put their ears to the surface they seemed to hum as well. Bidding a fond farewell to Hagrid the foursome left the cabin._

"_Thank you for not telling Hagrid about my arm, I don't know what he would have done to Ron had he found out" said Hermione as they made their way up to the castle, each clutching their eggs in their wrapped cloaks, they had agreed with Hagrid, that even though he had gotten permission from Dumbledore to give them the eggs they should still keep them a secret from a majority of the student population. _

_Rags' look darkened and he said "Well then maybe we should tell him and sit back and watch the show?" the others glanced at him warily until he could contain his laughter no longer, soon the other three were joining in and their laughter echoed across the slightly chilled grounds of Hogwarts. _

_End Flashback:_

It was late in the evening and all the other Gryffindor's were up in their dorms, so the four of them had the common room completely to themselves. Rags, was balancing his black egg on his chest as he glanced at the others. Ginny was sitting in Harry's lap holding her own red egg close to her chest, Harry had his green egg in the crook of one arm while his other was wrapped around Ginny's waist. Hermione was the odd one out, she was trying to do homework, and strangely enough it was homework that she hadn't finished, and that the others had a few hours ago. This in itself was strange as Hermione was the one who chivvied everyone else to get their work done, she was never the one to have to rush things through at anything other than her own speed, but this time was different, she was having trouble concentrating.

She had this problem for two reasons, one was that she was continually thinking about a certain blonde haired, heavily muscled, stormy eyed hunk, the second was much more normal in Hermione's opinion, she was dead tired, she had been training with Rags three times a week, to say that they were tiring, was to say that Albus Dumbledore's beard was a little long. She found herself thinking back to the first Saturday of training, the same Saturday that Hagrid have given the eggs.

_Flashback:_

_Hermione had snuck out of the Gryffindor dorm rooms enough time to know what she was doing, she had taken Harry's cloak and map as the note had suggested, she had told him about taking it and the cloak the first time and asked his permission, and he had told her that he didn't mind, if she needed it then she could use it. Hermione had told Harry and Ginny that she was using the cloak to go to the library with Rags, at night so there would be no one there, to research some of the curses and hexes that Rags knew, that were not being taught at Hogwarts, they had smirked at her explanation but had accepted it and let it go. _

_So at eight twenty five in the evening she approached the Room of Requirement, what seemed such a good idea that morning when she had gone over it in her head after getting the note, now seemed a very bad idea. At muggle school she ahd never been any good a sports, and not overly athletic, the only real sport that she had done was ballet when she was a little girl. Taking a deep breath she removed the invisibility cloak and opened the door, and was a little shocked at what she saw._

_Gone was the dimly lit room that she had seen Rags training in before, now there was a brightly lit room, with pale walls, timber floors and a small section in the centre covered with about two inch thick blue padding, all in all the room looked a lot like the room she had seen her father practice Kendo in for all those years when she was younger. "Evening Hermione" said a deep voice from somewhere to her left, which caused Hermione to jump in fright, something she would later deny with great fervour. _

"_RAGS" she shrieked "What the hell are you doing back there" he just smirked and glanced around the room, Hermione was not impressed, first he had scared…shocked her and now he wasn't talking to her. "Honestly why did you do that?" he just smirked and replied by saying "Just testing your awareness of your surroundings , you weren't bad" she smiled at his compliment, only to be shut down when he continued "but you need improvement."_

_Hermione was now rather pissed off with Rags, she had been trained in the DA, admittedly it was a student organisation, but it was still the best Defence training that she had received in her years at Hogwarts, and here he was saying that __she__ could be better, well she would just have to show him. "Shouldn't you test me before you make an assumption about my skills?" she asked in a voice that was a little harsher than she intended._

_She saw Rags' expression change, going from his friendly expression to something colder, something that made her a little anxious. "Ok, your at school, you think you are in a safe place, you entered a room where you knew I would be. You felt as though you were going into a secure environment correct?" Hermione nodded her head wondering where he was going with all this, "What if I was someone under the influence of the polyjuice potion?" Hermione had no answer to this, her mouth worked silently but Rags beat her to speaking again "As for Hogwarts being a safe place, you remember what happened to Moaning Myrtle? Yourself and the other students who were petrified, were you safe here? Finally remember what happened to the Diggory boy? All the crap that you and Harry and all the others have been through in the last five years I would think it would have made you a little more cautious." _

_Hermione felt ashamed, she had asked Rags to teach her how to defend herself and the first bit of criticism that she had received she had thrown back in his face, "I'm sorry" she whispered "I didn't mean for it to come out like that, it just seemed like you were making assumptions about me without all the information."_

_Rags' expression softened "Hermione when I agreed to teach you to defend yourself I meant that I would do just that, and that I would not agree to do it just that I would have the chance to tear you down while we are here." He grinned a little sheepishly "Look I have seen your spell casting it is phenomenal" Hermione couldn't help the little blush or surge of pride she felt when he said that, but her attention snapped back when he went on "there is nothing that I can teach you in that department except some more combat orientated spells, I am merely saying that, yes you are a great witch, and you have incredible intelligence, but you are not very aware of what is around you all the time."_

_Hermione looked a little confused at this so he elaborated "Two good people to watch to get to know what being aware is all about is me" she smiled to herself, no guess there, "and Harry" Hermione looked confused "Why Harry, you I can understand, but I don't understand, this may be a stupid question but can you explain it more?"_

_Rags nodded his head "Hermione you of all people should know you don't learn much unless you ask questions, so no, it is not a stupid question. Well, watch Harry and I when we enter a room, I learned this the hard way, and I think that Harry is starting to get the idea as well, when we enter a room, always check it out, look in the corners, look for weird people, and most importantly know where all the exits are." _

_Hermione smiled and sighed "There is a lot to learn isn't there?" Rags just smiled and said "Don't worry I'll talk you through everything, but we don't need to look at the awareness part too much until you guys start up the DA again", this was something that had been discussed on many an evening beside the common room fire. "What we are going to work on tonite and probably for the conceivable future, will be a mix of, meditation until you can reach what is called the Void, curses and hexes, and combat with a sword" at her surprised look he grinned "don't be scared you wont be using anything like Matsuro for a while yet" she mock glared at him and he just laughed "ok lets get started sit on that mat over there and do exactly like I do."_

_End Flashback: _

Hermione remembered the movements _'No their called Katas' _Rags' voice echoed in her head, the katas that he had gotten her to go through with the wooden bokken, a wooden practice katana, which he had proudly given to her to keep after her first training session, it was these sessions that were causing he tiredness, it wasn't the amount of time that they went on for but rather how strenuous the activity really was, meditation was actually very difficult and left you feeling tired, not refreshed, if you didn't do it properly.

She really enjoyed the sessions and she had even achieved what he had called the 'void' once or twice during practice, the void was something that she couldn't really explain, it was where your conscious thought seemed to leave your mind and your instincts, reactions and muscle awareness seemed to take over, and it required almost no thought to use, once you knew what you were doing, or to remove yourself from it, it was incredible and frightening at the same time. But she immediately set herself to mastering this skill, as Rags had told her that once she had mastered the void, she would be able to some of the things that she had seen him do when she had stumbled upon his training session in the Room of Requirement. On an entertaining side note, she had told the girls in her dorm how she had gotten her bruised arm, an how the bruising now was much better, and as a result Rags' public opinion among the Gryffindor girls ahd sky rocketed and Ron's had dropped lower than a Slytherin Quidditch player.

Glancing up to where Rags was lounging on the couch she couldn't resist saying "I don't know when It will hatch, maybe you should ask it?" Rags glance at her, and seeing that she was teasing him he stuck his tongue out at her, a gesture he had picked up very quickly from Harry and Ginny, and knew would send Hermione into a fit of giggles.

--

'The trio' as they were now unofficially called by the members of the Gryffindor house, i.e. Rags, Hermione and Harry, Ginny wasn't included as she was in another year and was unable to take classes with the others, were sitting in potions listening to Professor Slughorn outline the potion that they were going to be studying for that day, the _Drought of Living Death_, and whomever brewed the potion the best, got "As a treat" as the professor put it, a small vial of the _Felix Felicis_ potion, or a very powerful luck potion. Harry was at the same work station as Rags, Hermione, still annoyed at the potion book, was working with Neville, Rags had decided to avoid the wrath of Hermione, even though it was now down to a mild annoyance where the potion book was concerned, and was working out of his own potion book. He just happened to look at Harry's book, it wasn't cheating they were friends, and he had brewed this potion before, a long time ago while he was undergoing training with his former master by using the time turner. What he saw in Harry's book shocked him, yes the method shocked him, but that was not something that he was unfamiliar with, he already knew that on most potions mentioned in the book, the previous owner had given alternative suggestions. But this was different, there in the margin alongside the _Drought of Living Death_ ingredients and methodology, there was a spell written in the previous author's handwriting, a spell that sent his mind into instant awareness, the spell was _Secumsempra_, a spell that he was familiar with, a Dark spell, he resolved to speak to Harry during the lunch break. 

Harry won the bottle of _Felix Felicis_, which did not surprise Rags that much, he just found it funny to watch Hermione get irritated over it, not 'Hopping Steaming Hermione Mad' as Ginny so eloquently put it on several occasions in the common room, but irritated enough to half mock half real glare at Harry after potions.

--

Harry was shocked, Rags had grabbed himself, Hermione and Ginny, whom they had bumped into on their way to the Great Hall, and had dragged them to the nearest empty classroom to have a talk, and what a talk. Rags had told the group that he had recognised one of the spells in Harry's potions book as being a Dark spell. "The spell is called _Secumsempra_, it is not an overly powerful Dark spell but when used correctly it is very dangerous, the victim is slashed by an invisible source that leaves wounds that look to have come from a heavy sword. It is a spell that most victims die from if they don't receive immediate medical attention."

Hermione turned to Harry with a smug look on her face, fully intending to tell him that she was right and that he was wrong, and that the spell book was bad, which disappeared at the look on Rags' face, concerned she said "What is it Rags?" Hermione had asked him.

Rags sighed and replied "After the initial incident with the potions book I did a little digging, I had an idea about why Hermione acted the way that she did when Harry first got his potions book" he glanced around at his friends and continued "it took me a while but I talked to some of the guys", by the guys he meant Seamus, Dean and Neville, the other Gryffindor boys that Rags was friendly with. "I learned that Hermione was the one to stick by Harry no matter what, hell she even helped him start the DA last year even though it could get them expelled or even investigated by the Minister of Magic." The group all nodded and looked at Hermione, who true to her nature was deep in thought about what she had just heard.

"Well it got me thinking, there is a spell, it's a very old spell, but most of the pureblood families know it or at least know of its existence. It was banned by the International Conglomeration of Sorcery and Witchcraft in 1723, it is commonly known as the _Agrvias_ incantation. It is a strange spell it all depends on the will of the caster, but what it is used for is turning people against the ones that they hold dear." Realization dawned on the others faces, it was uncannily like what had happened to Hermione, and then Rags continued "I don't know why it would have been used on Hermione but looking at Ronald and how he has been acting, it's just a suspicion, but I think that he would be a candidate for using it." The others didn't say anything immediately, what Rags was saying sounded true

Harry jumped in "What makes you think that Ron would have been the one to cast the spell? I hate to say it but our little group is not exactly made up of the most popular people at Hogwarts, for example most of the Slytherin's hate us, i.e. Draco Malfoy, could he have cast the spell?" Harry had broken off most of his former contact with Ron, but still he didn't like the idea that someone was suggesting that the person who had been his unofficial brother for the past five years was doing something this bad.

Rags appeared to have an answer to this too as he continued straight away "Yes I have looked at the possibility that it was Malfoy but he hates you Harry, yes he doesn't get along with Hermione and Ginny, but if he cast the spell on you it would do the most damage, the only one who has anything to gain by casting the spell on Hermione, is Ron, I'm sorry." First Hermione, then Harry and eventually Ginny nodded their heads, each not wanting to think that someone who had been so close to them for so many years would try to break up their friendship like this.

Hermione had to ask the inevitable question "Why? Why would he do something like this? We were such good friends, and he threw all that away even before he cast that spell, if he did" even in her emotional state she knew that Rags had no proof, just conjecture and speculation, conjecture and speculation that fit Ron's behaviour for the last few weeks. "I think he wanted you away from your friends, so that he would be the only one that you could turn to, but I think that he cast the spell wrong, as you were very vague in your treatment of your friends, only getting annoyed at things that annoy you normally but at a more aggravated level. Also the caster forgot a major flaw of this spell, once everything that the victim has done is pointed out to him or her then the spell looses its effect very quickly."

Hermione went over to Harry and hugged him and said "I'm sorry for the way I acted, I know I wasn't myself but I still blame myself" Harry hugged her back and whispered in her ear "Its ok Hermione, I don't blame you, I hope it isn't Ron, but who ever did this to you will have me to deal with." Rags and Ginny nodded their heads in agreement; whoever did this to Hermione was in for a world of hurt.

--

September soon ended at the first week of October rolled round, classes continued as normal, with Hermione and Harry glaring at Ron at every opportunity, Ron and Harry had a spectacular falling out in the Gryffindor common room, a falling out that caused a few grins to appear on their housemates faces, people tended to like Rags more, he wasn't and idiot who whined if he didn't get his own way.

It was Saturday the 7th of October, and Hermione's alarm clock was blaring in her ear _'Why do I forget to turn the damn thing off'_ she silently yelled into her pillow, she quickly turned it off so as not to disturb her dorm mates and quickly got dressed. She quickly admired herself in the mirror; her training sessions with Rags had toned her up quite a bit. Not that she was ever porky or anything like that, but now her exercising had left her figure slim, but still curvy in _all_ the right places, and tightened her derrière as she like to think of it, much to her own pleasure, she had also noticed that with her increased upper body strength she had also grown in cup size as well, in her opinion she looked good, in almost everyone else's opinion she was _hot_.

She made her way down stairs and was surprised to see that Rags was not in his usual position on the couch, smiling thinking that she had beaten him at last, but then she heard his voice coming from a corner of the common room. Peaking over she saw him talking with a house elf, not recognising the elf as either Dobby or another school elf she deduced that this must be Dizzy, the only friend Rags had while growing up.

She was about to go over to them when the elf gave Rags a small brightly wrapped packet and a quick hug round the legs, then disappeared with a small crack. Rags grinned at the space where the elf had been moments before and un-wrapped the parcel that he had just been given. Hermione just watched as he pulled out what appeared to be something that looked like a leather wallet, he flipped it open and his whole demeanour changed. He gripped the back of the wooden chair that he was standing near and gave a gasp that sounded like he was in agony, Hermione noticed with shock that their were tears in his eyes, she quickly moved to go over to him but without even looking her direction he dashed through the portrait hole, his gift still in his hand. Hermione followed as fast as she could but when she got out onto the landing Rags was gone, she looked up and down the spiral staircase, but it was as though he had vanished into thin air.

A/N CLIFFIE YAY :-) Thanks to all those who have read the story up to this point, sorry it's a long one again, same excuse as last time I really got into it lol. Hope you all like this new update and continue to read and review the story. Thanks again TBK


	9. The Final Truth

AN: Thanks to everyone that reviewed, please keep doing so. There will be Hermione/Rags romance happening very soon, also more magic, Quidditch and some other stuff; you'll just have to read to find out.

Hermione, Harry, Ginny and indeed the small army of Gryffindor's that they had enlisted to help them, searching through Hogwarts castle for one person is extremely difficult, throw in when that person isn't appearing on the Marauder's Map then things go from just about difficult to impossible. It was now approaching lunch time and no one had seen the big Norwegian, not for lack of looking on anybody's part, so it was with heavy hearts that the three members of what everyone seemed to call 'The Foursome' headed to the Great Hall for lunch, still wondering what had happened to their absent friend.

The fact that the three of them entered without Rags did not go unnoticed by the rest of the school, certainly from the Slytherin table there were mutterings about where he had gone, none of them too pleasant. With Rags' rising popularity among the Gryffindor's his opinion among the Slytherin's had fallen on par roughly with Hermione and Ron, before the split, which goes without saying that it was a step below Harry, so saying he wasn't liked over there was putting it mildly. Lunch was eaten in relative silence, the only topic that they really wanted to discuss was Rags' unexplained absence, and the three of them were not entirely comfortable discussing that in the Great Hall where anyone could overhear them.

So it was quite a surprise when McGonagall made her way over to the trio and told them that the Headmaster expected the three of them in his office after lunch was over and that the password to get to said office was 'Werthers Original', which made Hermione smile, as it appeared that the Headmaster had discovered muggle sweets over the summer break. So it was with no small amount of confusion that the trio made their way to the entrance to the office of the Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, hidden offcourse behind its gargoyle statue. It was Ginny who stepped confidently up and said "Werthers Original" and the statue sprang aside and admitted the students to the escalating stair that lead to the office's door.

Albus Dumbledore was not the only person sitting in his office; Hermione noticed first that there was another person sitting in one of the darker corners, the same person that they had spent the entire morning and the beginning of the afternoon looking for.

"Mr Potter, Ms Weasley, Ms Granger thank you for coming, please have a seat" the trio took the offered three seats in front of the large desk. Albus noticed that the expressions on the three students in front of him were uniform, in that they had no idea what was going in, especially what could be involving their friend, who had moved from his position in the corner and was standing next to the large fireplace close to the desk.

"The reason that I have asked the three of you here today is to do with Mr Valerian here, he came to me with this request, one that I am happy to grant but will insist in remaining here for the duration, so Ragnar I believe that you have the floor." Dumbledore sat down and indicated that Rags should say his piece.

Rags looked at the three people he felt privileged enough to call his friends, took a deep breath and began to speak. "Well I'm not going to tiptoe around this issue, so I am going to come right out and say it" he turned away from them at that point and Hermione knew that whatever was on his mind was eating him up inside.

"Rags" she said "whatever it is you can tell us, we're not going to hate you or anything, I mean honestly it can't be that bad, right?" She glanced at the Headmaster and was shocked at the expression on his face, it was calm and serene, like it usually was but the twinkle that was usually present in his eyes, was gone. She turned to face Rags' back when she heard the sharp mocking chuckle escape his lips.

"You may not be so quick to say such things once I am finished" he took another breath, not as deep as the first but it was probably less used to build his courage than to calm his nerves. "I have unfortunately not been completely honest with you, about who I am… about _what _I am."

Hearing this Harry stiffened in his chair _'What could be so bad that he had been hiding it from his friends all this time?'_ he wondered to himself, unfortunately the nasty voice inside his head went on to point out the fact that he had been keeping what really happened with the prophecy from his friends too.

What came next shocked everyone to the core, except the old headmaster who was still sitting behind his desk letting the young people in front of him sort everything out. "I have not been completely truthful about who my father was… _is_" the voice that was speaking to them from the young man with his back to them could have frozen helium; it was one of the darkest voices anyone in the room had ever heard. "It is my unfortunate lot in life that I must tell you now my darkest secret, one I have not been able to tell until now; I said my father is a Dark Wizard, a practitioner of the Dark Arts. All of that is true none of that is a lie, but what my father is not the issue, but rather whom."

He paused them, not for dramatic effect but rather for the time to summon the courage to take the final plunge and reveal the secret that he had bourn from childhood "My father is the one that gave you your scar Harry" he heard the collective gasp and the scraping of chairs being violently moved by someone standing up quickly "my father is Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort."

You could cut the silence in the room with a knife, Rags turned around saying "I wanted to tell you but…" he stopped in mid sentence as he saw the three wands levelled at him, he glanced at his three friends and saw three different expressions on each of their faces.

Ginny wore an expression of controlled shock, as though she didn't want to believe what she had just heard, but was forced to do so. Harry's expression was one of barely held rage and anger, not a pleasant expression to be on the receiving end of to be sure. What he saw on Hermione's face broke him she wore an expression of fear, as though she feared him or what he might do. She saw him break, something left his stormy eyes, they became dull lifeless, and filled with pain.

"I see, well its no more than I deserve" the voice that spoke matched the eyes; there was nothing in it, no emotion, only pain. "If you'll excuse me Headmaster, there is someone else I need to have a word with" he didn't wait for a reply just slowly turned, walked to the office door, and left.

--

"PUT THOSE WANDS AWAY THIS INSTANT" the bellow was so unlike anything that they had heard from the Headmaster that it almost caused the three students remaining in the room. They all hurriedly put away their wands before turning to look at the Headmaster, who continued in a less loud, if equally angry voice "What, may I ask, do you think you were doing?"

Harry, still far to angry to be thinking clearly at the moment decided to answer the question for the group, also Hermione and Ginny appeared to be a little too shocked to be doing much talking at the moment. "Sir you heard him, he just said that he was Voldemort's son. Who knows how many things that he told him about Hogwarts, about you, about Hermione and Ginny and about _me_" the perceived betrayal was clear in Harry's voice as he regarded his mentor from the other side of the desk.

Albus Dumbledore regarded his favourite pupil over the rim of his half-moon spectacles and said in a very quiet voice "Contrary to your previous statement Mr Potter not everything that goes on in this school and involving Tom Riddle is to do with you" the three students gasped. Harry opened his mouth to reply but Dumbledore beat him to it "I'm sorry Harry but you are not thinking clearly, everything that Mr Valerian said in this room is true, he is the son of the man who calls himself Lord Voldemort. But I ask you, did you once suspect that he was Riddle's son?"

Harry was thoughtful for a moment then replied "Well aside from a slight resemblance, that was only really noticeable after he told us who he was" at Hermione and Ginny's confused looks Harry said "I saw Voldemort at a similar age in the diary you had Ginny" Ginny shuddered slightly and all three of them looked back to the Headmaster.

The old man looked at them with a level look in his normally twinkling eyes "Indeed Harry you are right in that respect, he does bear a slight resemblance to Tom, but he bears a greater likeness to his Valerian ancestors, the ones he knows very little about, and the ones that he refuses to talk about."

Hermione jumped in then "Excuse me Sir, bur Rags never told s anything about his ancestors, except offcourse that his mother was dead."

This produced a surprised look on the Headmaster's face "He told you his mother was dead, that's not right, as far as I know his mother is still alive somewhere. But she is the relative that he will not discuss with me; I suppose he finds it easier to think that she is dead."

This had the unfortunate side effect of angering Harry again, as he never knew his parents and would have given anything _to _know them to hear that someone preferred to think of their still _alive_ parents as dead was something he couldn't take lying down "He thinks of his mother as being dead, that proves that he lied to us about that, couldn't that mean that he lied about something else sir?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry and said "Possible, but I think that Mr Valerian deserves the benefit of the doubt on this matter, as his personal family life is his alone. Now leaving this topic behind us there is something that I believe that you should know, something that you would have known had you not _pulled your wands on a friend_, and that you have _no_ idea the things that he has seen, done, had done to him and been forced to endure so try to keep your anger in check Mr Potter" the last part was said in a very cold angry voice, that made Hermione and Ginny shrink in their seats a little, and some of the anger leave Harry.

"It was this morning just before I would have made my way down to breakfast when a very obviously agitated Ragnar Valerian knocked on my door. He told me everything that he told you a few minutes ago and requested that I made a time available so that he could telly you all in person, we will get to why he didn't tell you earlier when I have finished. He said that he already knew what the outcome of this talk would be, but would not be able to forgive himself, if he didn't tell you the truth."

At his audience's shocked expression a small smile graced his lips and he said "No Ragnar Valerian is not a seer, Tom Riddle has never had, nor I believe never will have that power, so he was unable to pass it to his son. He said to me

'_Headmaster I know what will happen, they will probably hate me, but now that I am able to tell them, I cannot in good conscience deceive them anymore' _"I replied by saying"

'_They may surprise you Mr Valerian they are some of the best people that I have had the pleasure of knowing'_

"Sad to say that this is one of the times that I was wrong in such a spectacular fashion, let me put this plainly, he knew not guessed or surmised, he _knew_ that by telling you three his darkest secret that he would loose your friendship, he understood this not because of some special power, but because he believes that it is what he deserves."

It was then the full force of everything Rags had said and done came crashing down on the three students Hermione and Ginny had tears in their eyes and Harry looked like he wanted to be sick, but found the fortitude to ask "Sir why didn't he tell us earlier?"

Dumbledore shook his head sadly and said "It is something that I was only able to find out when Ragnar himself gave me a memory, on the condition that I would only view it once then destroy it. The incident took place shortly after Tom was able to assume the small lesser form that you, Harry, encountered at the Graveyard, the one that looked somewhat like a demonic infant." Harry nodded his understanding and Dumbledore continued "Even in this form Tom had control over a significant amount of his former power, not nearly all of it, but enough to still be able to access his magical core, and as such he forced Ragnar to go through an _'Unbreakable Vow'_. This is an oath from one magical user to another, binding them to the oath on the pain of death; Ragnar's oath was to never reveal the identity of his father. I believe that Tom made Ragnar take this oath when it became apparent that he would soon wield enough power to possibly escape from where he and his sister were being kept."

Seeing the more than slightly afraid look on Hermione's face Dumbledore said "What is the matter Ms Granger?"

Hermione said "Headmaster does this mean that Rags is going to die?"

Dumbledore was not a vindictive man but nevertheless he felt he had to make the three realise what they had done to their friend. "Why do you care Ms Granger?" Hermione started, shocked and was about to give an angry reply, that would probably have cost her, her prized prefects badge until the Headmaster cut her off "Because, unless my eyes deceived me you pointed your own wand at him not that long ago, that doesn't seem like the actions of someone who cares for another." Seeing the pain and the shock in her eyes he continued "But no, he won't die, not from the oath he took anyway, Tom forgot one thing in his desperation to keep his secret, an Unbreakable Vow between and adult and a minor, is null and void at the time that the child reaches his or her majority."

He saw the looks on all their faces and said "Yes today was Ragnar's seventeenth birthday; sadly it appears that it was not very different from all the others in his life."

--

While all of this was going on Ragnar Valerian was sitting on the ledge of the tallest tower of Hogwarts the chill winds didn't faze him neither did the dizzying drop only about a foot in front of him, and sighed. He knew what was going to happen when he told the others the truth about his family, but that still hadn't kept a tiny part of him hoping, or more accurately praying, that it wouldn't be the case, but as usual his hopes had been dashed against reality.

He glanced down as he felt something rumble and shake in the vicinity of his midsection; he quickly reached into the large pouch-like pocket of his jumper, he quickly reached inside and pulled out his black BlahdressEgg, the egg was shaking quite rapidly, and small cracks were appearing on its surface, when all of a sudden it shattered and resting in a piece of the shell left in his hand was a black bird about the size of his hand.

"Hello there" he said softly, not quite knowing how to treat the creature, fortunately the bird seemed to take the initiative and gently lowered hits head to the palm on his right hand. There was a short stab of pain, enough to make most any other seventeen year old yelp out loud, Rags barely flinched, he was accustomed to much more severe pain than this.

"_Ragnar"_ a voice seemed to whisper from everywhere at once, it was so disconcerting that Rags nearly fell of the ledge he was sitting on. He looked around for anyone else who may have been on the top of the tower with him, but could see no one, _"Ragnar"_ the voice said again, and this time he was able to identify it as distinctly masculine, his eyebrows rose and he glanced down at the bird in his hand and got a "Cheep" in greeting, and he wasn't sure but he was fairly certain that if birds could grin then this one would be giving him the grin of the century, something to put even Gilderoy Lockheart to shame. Unfortunately the only word to come out of Ragnar's mouth at this surprising turn of events was "Huh", so he settled for stroking the birds jet black chest feathers with his index finger, which seemed to please the little creature no end, as it was happily 'chirping' away in his hand.

"Well I suppose that I need to go down and see Hagrid now, I have no idea what I'm going to do with you so I'm going to need some help" the little creature bobbed his head in agreement and Ragnar continued "You understand me don't you?"

Again the bird bobbed his head, "Ok we'll work on the speaking thing later, first let's get down to Hagrid's and take things from there." With that Ragnar Valerian got up and headed down to his favourite professor's home/office, his previous melancholy temporarily pushed to the back of his mind thanks to his new little friend.

A/N: ANGST, THERE IS ANGST IN THIS CHAPTER (GASP), lol first time at writing angst what do you think? Sorry that it has taken me so long to update but I have been really busy Uni has just gone back so everything has been really hectic and weird the last couple of weeks, it includes plot bunnies running away, crazy translational relatives and two weddings, I think you get the idea now lol. Thanks for sticking with it Read and Review TBK


	10. The Entrance to the Mind

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed, there will sadly be more Angst throughout the story; a buddy says I have a flair for it (not one of my better talents). But I am a fan of happiness and mush (to a degree [don't tell anyone]) so there will be goodness too.

--

Ragnar was sitting alone atop the astronomy tower, it was Saturday night nearly Sunday morning, almost twelve hours since he had told his friends his final secret, and he hated almost every single one of those twelve hours. _'Well I can't really blame them can I?' _he thought to himself, if their situations had been reversed he thought that he would have been lucky to have not been hexed, cursed and jinxed into his fifties.

He received a solid mental caress form his now constant, and only, companion who was currently seated on Rags' head and thought back to the rather enjoyable few hours that he had spent with Hagrid. The half giant had been ecstatic when Ragnar had shown up on his doorstep carrying the small bundle of black feathers. He had proudly informed Ragnar that he was the companion of a Midnight Falcon, one of the rarest kinds of falcons in the history of the wizarding world. Which offcourse gave Rags the dubious honour of naming the, now, little creature, it would have to be a suitably impressive name, as there were about two bonded Midnight Falcons in the whole of the wizarding world, not including Rags', and only about a hundred left in the wild.

Unfortunately Hagrid soon realised that Harry, Hermione and Ginny were not down here with Rags to share in the momentous occasion of having the egg hatch, and that made the friendly half giant very suspicious, when there was a lull in the conversation he confronted the young man on the issue.

Rags being who he was he decided that he would tell Hagrid the whole truth, so the whole sordid tale came out, including the part that he had old Hermione, Harry and Ginny that distant night, or what felt like a distant night, ago in the Room of Requirement. Hagrid surprised him, he thought that the professor would be angry, as he had been their through the first war with Voldemort, but he just said "Well I won't hold your father against you, it's not like you chose him. Anyway it would make me a hypocrite; you haven't held that fact that I am a half giant against me so I won't hold your family against you."

Hagrid had been treated to a full blown smile from the young man, but offcourse then the part about how Harry and the others had pulled their wands on Rags came out, he had sworn a bit at that, said some rather nasty things and said that he would talk to them, Rags had tried to persuade him not to but it hadn't worked, Hagrid had got it set in his mind that he was going to talk to the others on Rags' behalf.

Rags used a small mental nudge of his own to get the little Midnight Falcon to hop down into his hands, although it would not remain little for long, Hagrid had told him that roughly a month from now the falcon would be at least as long as his forearm and would probably grow even bigger as it got older. Rags stared into its startling silver eyes and grinned slightly "I was wondering if you would like to hear the name that I have thought up for you little one?"

What he got back in return was the thought nudge version of 'duh', he wasn't very good at talking yet, he ignored the little bird and began to speak "I don't know a lot about you, you appear to have a varied personality, a mix of courage, seeing as you didn't freak out when Fang tried to eat you. You are intelligent, kind and caring, you pulled me out of my funk. If it's acceptable to you I'll call you Aesir, it was the collective name for all the old Wotainc Gods of the ancient Norse." Aesir seemed to be completely happy with his new name, and he showed such appreciation by letting his happiness flow over the slowly forming bond between the two, but the bond could never replace the feeling of having friends around, people he could talk to, he was once again, as he always though that he was and would be, alone.

--

After getting out of their meeting with the Headmaster Harry, Ginny and Hermione had immediately set off in search of their friend, unfortunately, like their earlier attempt, they were unsuccessful. Hermione broached the subject that no one really wished to talk about "Guys" Harry and Ginny turned to her and waited for her to continue "you don't think that he would have gone off the school grounds do you?"

Ginny looked thoughtful but tried to assuage her friend's fears by saying "I don't think he would do that Hermione, I mean what reason would he have to go off the grounds for, everything that's been going on around him for the last month has been here."

Unfortunately it was Harry who had to play the avatar of doom "That's true, but then you have to ask yourselves this question. What has he got to tie him here to the school?"

Hermione was almost in tears after he said that "Harry why would you say that? He can't have left, he can't..."

Harry responded by saying "I'm only trying to think like he might be Hermione, and I know that if I had no one here who cared for me, I would probably leave." He hated doing this but he knew that there was a distinct possibility that Rags was no longer on the school grounds.

"But he does have people that care about him here, what we did was wrong so wrong…he just accepted it…he _expected_ it. Oh what have we done?" By now Hermione was in a full crying/panic session and was being held by Ginny, who looked at Harry in shock, Harry returned the look.

"Hermione do you have feelings for Rags?" Harry couldn't help but ask it would be the only thing that explained how she was acting at the moment. He wasn't trying to pry, he told himself, and he was just wondering why the girl he thought of as a sister was so upset at the moment.

Hermione looked up at him and glanced at Ginny and whispered "Yes, yes I have, I've had them for a while, but I haven't said anything because I didn't want to ruin our friendship by rushing him or anything like that. Now I may have gone and mucked everything up without ever getting the chance to tell him." She was slowly getting herself under control but she was certainly still on the ragged edge of tears.

Ginny gave her friend another hug and said "Well when we find him and patch up our collective friendship you and he will have a little chat." Hermione nodded her head and the three of them continued their search for their missing friend, and found themselves heading down toward Hagrid's house, they knew that he and Rags got along well so he might be able to help them find him, or maybe had even seen him.

--

Ginny was walking near Hermione just in case she needed another helping hand, but she appeared to be managing alright by herself at the moment. Harry stepped up and wrapped loudly on the large door of Hagrid's house, they all heard the typical _'Down Fang, stupid dog'_ coming from the inside, and couldn't help smiling at the comfortable familiarity of Hagrid's voice. "Hagrid open up" Harry yelled hoping to get the half giant's attention.

Hagrid opened the door, and greeted them with an expression that he hadn't shown them before, a cold distant one, "Yes" he said shortly, the others were shocked Hagrid had never treated them this way, it made them wonder if there was something bothering him as well as Rags.

"Is something wrong Hagrid?" Harry asked as he was the one who knew Hagrid the best seeing he rescued him from the Dursley's in his first year.

"Yes there is, but I'm not going to discuss it out here in the cold, so you'd better come in. But don't touch any of the paper's there all for the classes after the break and I don't want any of them to get misplaced." The others, still in their stunned shock entered the hut and sat down.

"Hagrid what's wrong?" Hermione asked timidly, wondering what could bet the matter with their large friend, but she ahd a sneaky suspicion that it was something to do with Rags.

Hagrid regarded them all and then said "When you lot first came to see me in your first year, except Ginny offcourse, there were three of you. You Harry, yourself Hermione and Ron, now for some reason your friendship with Ron has died down and you aren't as friendly. Probably due to him pinning after Hermione at all hours of the day, so good riddance I say." The three students looked at Hagrid shocked, and wondered how he had found out but he just continued "then there were four of you, the new inclusion in the trio was Ragnar Valerian, who I am very pleased to call a friend, even though there is a large age gap between us, and you should be too, so what the _hell_ happened today in the Headmasters office?"

His long speech ended Hagrid regarded the three Hogwarts students sitting before him and waited for one of them to speak. It was Hermione "We are so sorry Hagrid. I don't know what happened but when he said his father was Vvv…Voldemort it was such a shock, I don't know what happened, it was an instinctive reaction to draw my wand, he did nothing to hurt us, he knew we would react the way we did and he told us anyway. We…I certainly would never have guessed unless he told me, so he could have, in his mind, kept the friendship he had and not told us a thing, but he wanted us to know." She was nearly in tears again, and Ginny wasn't much better, and Harry looked like he wanted to be sick.

Hagrid's expression softened slightly and he said "I'm not the one that you need to apologise to, I assume that you came here hoping that I have seen him and can point you in the direction that he went?" He noticed that all their head nodded in the affirmative, and he believed them, they honestly had an instinctive reaction to the information that they were given, and to be honest if Rags had told that little gem of information to anyone at the Ministry of Magic then he would probably already be in Azkaban by now.

"Sorry but I don't know where he is" he saw their crestfallen faces and continued "but he was here today, not too long after he had finished with the Headmaster if I'm not mistaken. He came down here because his Egg had hatched."

The others gasped, from what Hagrid had told them about their own eggs; there were no where near ready to hatch. Hermione quickly jumped in and asked "Hagrid why did Rags' egg hatch so much quicker than ours? Also what hatched out of it?"

Hagrid couldn't help smiling at Hermione, she truly was a remarkable person, all the bad things that had happened to her at Hogwarts, even now with her friendship with Rags on the rocks, she remained the same inquisitive, curious girl that she always was. "I'm not sure why it hatched so early for him, well I have a theory it's that he needed it to hatch, so the egg hatched at a time that he needed to, and in a creature that was best suited to his needs, a Midnight Falcon." Ginny, who had grown up in the wizarding world knew about the rare powerful birds and was shocked, and immediately wondered what creature would hatch for her, Hermione also knew a little about the Falcons, only because she had read everything in the library about them, a measly four books. Harry just sat their thinking that having a Falcon familiar would be very cool.

They talked a little more with Hagrid and they came up with some ideas where Rags might have gone, Hagrid suggested places that were quiet and out of the way, places that he would not be easily disturbed. The three had already had that idea and had tried the library and the Room of Requirement; they had even tramped down to the Quidditch pitch to see if he had gone there, but they had been unsuccessful. But Hagrid had suggested that they try the Astronomy Tower, as it was hardly ever used except for classes, but offcourse when they reached it, all they found was a bare windswept stone roof, with no sign of Rags of his flacon.

--

Sunday came and went and Hermione, Ginny and Harry raced down to the Common Room hoping to find their large friend waiting for them, but it was a one way trip back to the crush of reality when they realised that he wasn't there, just and empty Common Room and an empty sofa. Ginny quickly grabbed Harry's hand trying to get as much comfort from the contact as she could just from simple physical contact, Hermione looked at them and said "Let's just go about the day as normal, and if an opportunity comes along to find Rags then we will." The others nodded glumly; none of them could help the feeling that they had driven their friend into his self imposed exile.

The weekend quickly came to and end, with only the most brief glimpses of Rags, even at mealtimes, he seemed to slip in, grab something to eat and be gone again before any of the trio could get to him, but when Monday came round things changed. As usual the three of them made their way down to breakfast and were shocked to see Rags sitting with Dean, Seamus and Neville, Hermione had noticed that while his main friendship group centred around herself, Ginny and Harry, he certainly got along well with the boys in his year level, the three that he was sitting with at the moment were the prime examples of that.

Hermione looked at Harry and Ginny and they immediately moved towards where Rags was sitting, hoping to corner him and patch up their friendship before they all went off to their morning classes, but fate was not on their side, they were intercepted by the one of the two people they didn't want to see during any day, Malfoy. The usual insults were traded, and a group of people pushed past the sixth years, as they were standing in the entranceway to the Great Hall. Hermione got right up in Malfoy's face and said "Piss off Ferret, or would you like Ragnar to rearrange your face again?" Malfoy left with a look of anger on his face, and Hermione noticed that Rags was no longer in the Hall. She turned and saw him, still talking to Dean and Seamus, although they were now heading back towards the Common Room. She frowned and vowed to herself that she would speak to Rags today whether he wanted her to or not. Unfortunately this would prove harder than she originally thought.

--

Harry and Hermione were making their way down towards the greenhouses for Herbology, Harry was about a half-dozen paces ahead of Hermione talking to Dean Thomas, mostly about Quidditch, seeing as his friendship with Ron had pretty much ended he needed another guy to talk sport to.

So he was in the wrong position to see Malfoy motion Crabbe and Goyle to move in just behind Hermione, who was, although not far behind Harry and Dean, was certainly at the back of the main group of students.

Rags was well towards the front of the group talking with Seamus, when something felt _wrong_, he had only felt the feeling a few times before in his life, when Death Eaters decided that they were going to have some fun with his sister, fun that would have been against her wishes, he had arrived just in time to stop them but he had never forgotten the strange feeling of unease that settled over him every time, and he trusted it again now. He turned around and stopped short, there was Hermione being held on either side by Crabbe and Goyle, and Malfoy was their too saying something he couldn't quite make out, when he saw Crabbe take Hermione's wand out of her holster he knew something was _very, very wrong_.

Time seemed to slow down for Hermione, one moment she had been walking along following Harry to Herbology, she gave Harry his 'guy time', as he put it, talking to Dean, when she was grabbed from behind and pulled to face Malfoy. "Well now Mudblood, I think that its time that you learned your place" his eyes roamed down her body and Hermione felt like she was going to be sick with fear. "But don't worry Mudblood, I have something else in store for you" he glanced around to make sure their were no teachers in the vicinity and said "move her over there Crabbe, Goyle hold her tight, near the wall you fools" if he had taken the time to look properly behind him, he would have seen something moving towards him faster than humanly possible.

Hermione was standing against the wall of Hogwarts castle, as though in a dream she saw Malfoy draw his wand, complete a complicated movement and yell "Nox noctis Nex", and as though in slow-motion she saw a dark burst of light leave Malfoy's wand, and move towards her. Suddenly there was something large in front of her, between her and the spell, the large object was blasted out of the way, she barely caught a glimpse of longish blonde hair tied back with a metallic clasp, before Rags' flying body knocked her against the wall of Hogwarts, effectively rendering her unconscious.

--

Hermione woke up in the hospital wing, hearing muffled voices just outside the curtain that shielded her from the rest of the ward; sitting next to her bed was Harry and Ginny. She looked up at the two of them and wondered where Rags could be, if she was in the Hospital, surely he would have come by to see her. Then the events of the day came crashing down on her, and she gasped and felt Ginny grab her hand and squeeze it tightly. "W w what happened?" she managed to squeak out.

Harry was the one who answered "Malfoy tried to curse you, he cast some form of dark spell, but Rags got between you and the spell before it could hit you, he was thrown backwards by the force of the spell and you were knocked out when you hit the castle wall. It all happened so fast but Dumbledore showed up, I don't know how he managed it but he was furious, the only time that I have seen him as furious was when the Dementor's got onto the school grounds back in third year. He disarmed Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle and had Professor Snape cart them off, seeing as he is their head of House. He checked you and Rags and assisted Madame Pomfrey in getting the two of you here; you have been unconscious for about two hours."

Hermione looked up and whispered "What about Rags?"

It was Ginny who replied this time "Hermione, we don't know much, we saw him get hit by the curse, but don't know which one it was." She glanced at Harry and he nodded "Come on, we'll take you to see him.

Harry and Ginny helped Hermione up and held onto an arm each as they got her out of the bed and onto her feet again. They exited the screen that shut off Hermione's bed from the rest of the hospital and Hermione gasped when she saw Rags.

He was lying in a bed with his shirt off and a large bandage wrapped around his waist and right shoulder, but it wasn't just the bandages that made her gasp, it was the scars. He had so many, there were long thin scars that ran up and down his powerful arms; she surmised that these were scars from whatever 'training' he had been put though in his childhood. He also had several large ones on his muscled chest, the largest went from just the bottom of his neck on his left side, winded its way down in a loose 'S' shape crossing over his abs before ending near his right hip. But it was not this scar that grabbed Hermione's attention, nor the scars on his shoulders and arms, it was the long newly healed scar that went down vertically over his right eye, extending about an inch either side of his eye. She knew immediately that he had gotten this scar protecting her from Malfoy's curse.

Then the three of them heard Madame Pomfrey speaking, "I have healed his newer superfluous injuries Albus, the broken ribs, dislocated shoulder and cracked skull, the bandages are soaked in a potion to assist in his recovery and stop any lingering effects of the injury, but I can do nothing about the scar on his face, it was made by whatever dark curse struck him, and although will not affect him anyway should he recover, I simply cannot remove it."

Hermione nearly lost it then _'Should he recover, no it was all wrong, he had to recover, he had to'_ McGonagall turned round and saw them standing there, and the horrified look on Hermione's face. "Miss Granger what are you doing out of bed? Come on lets get you settled in" Minerva McGonagall was used to students, being silly, arrogant and spiteful but a student had never shrugged off her hand and completely ignored her before, Hermione just walked up the figure propped up on pillows and took the one of the large hands in both her own, and just stood there.

Hermione had never really held Rags' hand before, in some ways it was like her father's old leather motorcycling gloves, rough and strong but with calluses from the forge and sword work he had done throughout his life, along the back it was dotted with tiny scars and burn marks. It was much larger than she first thought, but looking at him laying in the bed she realised he looked very vulnerable and fragile. "What's wrong with him?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Madame Pomfrey was the one who spoke up "I'm not sure Miss Granger, he was hit by a curse, a curse I am told was meant for you. I have not been able to identify the curse, although I m sure that it has some dark origins. Can you remember the incantation that was used?" Madame Pomfrey had little hope that the girl in front of her remembered the curse that was almost certain to take the life of her friend, she was showing all the classic signs of post event trauma, but once again Hermione Granger was going to surprise the staff of Hogwarts.

"I have no idea what the curse was but I heard the incantation well enough it was Nox noctis Nex, it was preceded by a complicated wand movement and the spell was a dark burst of light" she noticed the very worried look on Madame Pomfrey's face, and the gasps from McGonagall and Dumbledore and said "What? What's the spell, what is it going to do?"

Madame Pomfrey answered "It's called the _Nightmare Sleep_ it is one of the most horrible spells in our world. It not only does a severe amount of nerve damage to the victim, which in this case I was fortunate enough to repair being able to get to him quickly, the end result being that scar over his right eye. What the spell does is to put the victim into something resembling a coma, that in itself is not so bad; the worst part is that they are forced to relive all their most horrible experiences, deeds, events and memories, slowly driving them towards madness and eventual death. From what I understand of Mr Valerian, he has gone through far too many."

It was then that the three students realised that Madame Pomfrey must have know about Rags' past. Hermione looked up at the school matron with shock, had Rags told her all the things that they had discussed in the Room of Requirement, but Madame Pomfrey continued and Hermione focused her attention back on the school nurse. "I have no idea what his life was like at Hogwarts, I don't know a thing about his past. But he was certainly suffering from post traumatic stress disorder certainly up to a month before the beginning of term this year. So I would speculate that he has plenty of memories and experiences to draw upon."

Dumbledore stepped up to the nurse and put his hand on her shoulder and asked "Poppy, how long does he have, and is there any hope that the cure would work for him?"

This question confused all of the teens who were in the hospital wing and were trying to keep up as best as they could. "I don't know Albus, the only way sure way that I know of to counteract the spell is for someone with a deep enough connection, usually a close family member automatically qualifies, a sibling or a parent normally, to go into the mind of the victim and endure what he or she sees with them. They cannot stop the images or stop the pain, all they can do is be there for them."

Madame Pomfrey sighed, a sure sign that what she would say next was not going to be good news, although the three students in the room wondered how it could get any worse. "Now the problem that we are facing at the moment is the time frame. From what I know of this spell is that it does not take immediate effect, for a normal magical person I would give them up to a week to survive without aide. With Mr Valerian here because of his magical strength, combined with the darkness of his past, he maybe had three days."

Hermione felt like she was standing in a vacuum, she was numb, cold standing by herself holding onto the lifeless hand of the man she cared about, and not being able to do it. "Headmaster you have to get Rags' mother no matter their differences she may be the only one that can help him" she suddenly pleaded, and Dumbledore winced at the raw pain in her voice and had to break the bad news to her himself.

"Miss Granger we don't know where Brunehild is, we know that she is alive, and I believe still in Norway. But we have no idea where in Norway she it, and I'm afraid that it will take far longer than three days for us to track her down. No I think that we will need to find someone else to help Ragnar, and anyway, from what I have gathered from Ragnar himself he was taken away from his mother at a young age, and even then he was not in a happy home, so even if we could find her his mother might not be the best person to help him." Dumbledore saw the look of hope die on Hermione Granger's face and struggled to keep the pain from his own eyes, how did this happen in his school, and he would not be able to expel Malfoy, his father had managed to get released from Azkaban, especially as Fudge had not resigned only apologised for making an error, but Malfoy Snr still wielded enormous power within the school board of governors and the Ministry. Crabbe and Goyle on the other hand were fair game, they would be out of this school faster than they could eat a cake, and that was fast.

"I'll do it" that one small sentence stopped all the brooding in the room, all the contemplations and the guilt and all eyes turned to one Miss Hermione Granger. "I'll do it; I'll try to help him."

Madame Pomfrey was shocked, elated that they might be able to save her patient, but shocked nevertheless and she hated having to play devils advocate and voiced her concerns about Hermione's idea. "Miss Granger, I'm elated that you would want to help but I'm not sure you could. This spell has never been countered except with a spouse or blood relative doing the helping, and you must understand that there is still no complete chance of success, even if the person assisting the victim makes it through the ordeal; most of it depends of the victims' strength of character and strength of mind."

Dumbledore had a thoughtful look on his face and Professor McGonagall rounded on him in anger "Albus! You cannot be seriously thinking of letting Miss Granger go thorough with this lunacy?"

Dumbledore looked at his old friends and said "That is exactly what I am thinking about Minerva. I have watched Mr Valerian bonding and developing friendships with some of the students in his year, and he seems to share a particular closeness with Miss Granger. The person who goes into the victims mind is in no danger, they cannot be physically hurt by anything that they see in there, they will just see some of the worst things that happen to the victim, and know that they cannot stop the images, only endure it with them. Poppy what would we need to do to prepare for this procedure?"

Madame Pomfrey was, at this moment, in her matron mode, she had been asked a serious question about her patient, and the points that the Headmaster had made were indeed valid and medically sound so she answered his question. "Well Albus, it will take me about twenty four hours to brew the potion that Miss Granger will be taking, and that is cutting a lot of corners and with Horace and Severus's help offcourse. But after that as long as the procedure is performed within the next seventy two hours we should be fine."

Dumbledore nodded his head and said "Very well Poppy, I want you to inform me the minute the potion is complete, all other concerns are secondary seeing as the life of a student is at stake. Miss Granger you are excused from classes until the procedure is ready to be performed, Poppy is their anything that Miss Granger should know before she undertakes this?"

Madame Pomfrey nodded her head and said "I want you to eat healthily Miss Granger, a little more than you might usually do just to keep your energy levels high, and try to refrain from casting any difficult spells as your core must be strong for what you are going to do" she seemed to end there and then added as an afterthought "When the potion is ready be dressed in comfortable clothing you may be sitting in the same position for a while."

Hermione nodded and with Harry and Ginny's help she was able to walk out of the hospital wing on her own two feet, but despite her injuries, she couldn't help but think about the young man lying on the bed in the hospital wing, the young man who may have sacrificed everything for her, even when he thought no one cared.

Once the teens had left Madame Pomfrey motioned Dumbledore around the Rags' right side, whereas before everyone was standing on his _left_. "Albus, what can you make of this? He didn't have it when I examined him after the incident over the summer, and I'm not sure what it is except that it is magical."

Dumbledore moved round and saw what Poppy Pomfrey was indicating underneath the bandage she had just removed and his eyes widened in surprise at what he saw. Almost like a tattoo on his right bicep there was a mark of a swooping falcon, upon closer inspection he realised that it was a Midnight-Falcon, every detail was perfect, the black feathers with their midnight/navy blue highlights to the silver eyes, beak and talons. "It's hatched and they have already bonded" he whispered to no one n particular, the other teachers who were in the room looked at him perplexed until they heard the tinkle of breaking glass.

Everyone still in the room whirled around to look at the hospital wing window, there was a small hole in the glass, and broken glass scattered all over the floor, then there was a screech. Turning back to the bed they noticed what appeared to be a young, newly hatched, Midnight-Falcon perched on the wooden headboard of the bed Ragnar was resting in. The creature glared balefully at all in the room, and everyone felt a small chill creep down their spine. Yes this falcon was young and newly hatched but even still it was one of the most dangerous magical creatures known to wizard kind.

Dumbledore was looking into the falcon's silver eyes, and the two of them came to an understanding, if anything happened to Rags, Hogwarts would be missing the last of the Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle lines come the following morning.

--

Hermione, Ginny and Harry were sitting in the Gryffindor common room in silence, none of them felt like talking, about Rags' condition or what Hermione was going to be attempting in the next day or so. "We should do something for him" Hermione said suddenly, breaking the oppressive silence that had been hovering over the group since they got back from the hospital wing.

Harry and Ginny looked at the other girl with confused looks on their faces, so Hermione elaborated her idea. "Rags has never had a real birthday from what we were just told by Professor Dumbledore and the others, so _when _he wakes up", no one missed the emphasis put on the when in that sentence, "we should all have something to give him. What do you two think?"

Harry looked thoughtful but said "I like the idea; we need to do something to make things up to him." He looked at his girlfriend and she nodded her head and continued with what he was probably going to say.

"Hermione?" when the older girl looked at her she said what was bothering both her and Harry "are you sure your ok with what is going to happen?"

Hermione looked at her two friends and said "Yes, yes I am, if we hadn't had that confrontation the other day, none of this would have happened, and even if it had I would still be sitting here going to go through with it. He thinks we hate him and he still took a curse that could have killed me, I owe it to him to help him if I can. As for seeing his darkest memories, maybe it will help me understand him."

Ginny noticed the tears that were once again threatening to overcome her friend so she quickly got up and pulled Hermione into a hug. Harry got up and hugged her from the other side, they sat there for a while each to their own thoughts about what would happen, unaware that a pair of blue eyes was watching them waiting for their time to make their move.

--

At four o'clock the following afternoon found Harry, Ginny and Hermione sitting one again in the hospital wing, staring at the still form of Rags, who looked even paler that he had the day before. Fortunately due to the genius of Professor Snape, Professor Slughorn and Madame Pomfrey they had gotten the potion done in record time, and maybe even improved it a little, but they wouldn't know that until Rags woke up, if he woke up. "Alright Ms Granger, you need to take this potion, all of it mind you otherwise you will not be able to help him as much as he needs."

Hermione pinched her nose and drank down the silvery potion; it tasted quite nice really, almost like a cool liqueur. "Now what Madame Pomfrey?" she asked, having no idea what she was really supposed to do.

Madame Pomfrey explained what she was going to have to do, she was to essentially sit near the head of the bed with Rags' head in her lap, and hold his head in her hands with her fingers down near his jaw and her thumbs near his eyelids, to open them slightly, as when the potion began working, in about ten minutes, his eyes would open and she would be drawn into his mind. So Hermione gave Harry and Ginny a quick hug, they were not allowed to sit with her during the procedure in case anything went wrong, and they were in the way, they would have to sit and wait in the common room.

Hermione got herself settled and readjusted the clothes she was wearing so she would be comfortable; she was wearing an old Gryffindor jumper, that was a few years old but was comfortably worn so it was nice to sit in, and grey track pants she brought from home. Her attire had drawn a few appraising glances as she made her way through the hall with Harry and Ginny, enough that Ron missed the hollow step on the Grand Staircase and fell the rest of the way down, it may have had less to do with her overall appearance than the fact that her pants showed of her bum spectacularly.

She gently held Rags' head in her hands, this gave her a unique opportunity to see his facial scars close up, and run her hands through his hair, it was strange what stuck with her in the few minutes before the procedure, his hair felt like warm silk, so much that she was 'almost' jealous of it. Dumbledore gave her a smile of encouragement and Madame Pomfrey gave her a nod to open his eyes, as she did so she leant down and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead and whispered "Hold on Rags I'm coming", that was the last anyone heard of her as at that moment Rags' eyes snapped open, his stormy blue-grey eyes locked with her chocolate brown ones and she felt herself being pulled into a world of darkness.

A/N: Ok Whew that was a long chappie to write, sorry it took so long but the damn thing just kept on getting bigger and bigger and I couldn't find a place to stop (sorry). Hope everyone liked it please read and Review. Thanks to 1RedLion for the great review, I'm part Norwegian too and I was tired of all the characters being from England. Thanks again everyone, nxt chappie will prob be up in the next week or so as I go on Uni break then. Cheers again TBK


	11. Dark Memories and a Kiss

A/N: Thank you to everyone who had reviewed, especially Monnbeam and Pingn. Oh & Pingn I know exactly what you mean, my dog likes to chew my feet as well and aren't cheeto's great, anyone who hasn't checked out the reviews won't know what I am talking about but that's no different from how things usually are. ok on with the tale. Sadly more angst but with a happy ending I promise.

--

Hermione was emerged in a world of darkness; nothing pierced the complete and utter midnight blackness that surrounded her. Although she did notice that she was herself, wherever she was, she looked down and saw the rest of her body, dressed in the clothes she was wearing when she entered the Hospital Wing, although she could feel something under her feet she could plainly see that there was nothing there, so she assumed that the whole memory process would be like a pensive. _'Well this isn't exactly what I thought I'd be seeing; I thought it would be his darkest memories, not just darkness.'_

Suddenly there was a flicker of light and she found herself standing in an opulent entrance hallway. Looking around she realised that this must have been Rags' childhood home _'Well he certainly wasn't skint' _she though to herself _'I wonder what was so bad about living here?'_ she stopped her internal dialogue as a simply stunning woman in her mid twenties, with the same hair colour and eyes as Rags entered the main hall where Hermione was standing, even though Hermione was only viewing a memory, she nearly jumped out of her skin when the woman looked at her.

"Lady Brunehild your driver is ready to take you to the function now, he can leave whenever you are ready" said a rather formal looking man, dressed in what appeared to be a wizards version of a tuxedo, as he made his entrance into the hall, Hermione thought that he looked like a butler of some description so she assumed that Rags' family must be pretty well off, well judging from the hallway and the appearance of someone who appeared to be a servant.

"Jacob, go and see if Ms Svenston is finished, I was a little longer getting ready that I thought I would be, and I don't want to be late." As she finished speaking she turned around and a smile lit up her face, making her all the more lovely "There's my little three year old Angel, looking like a real princess all ready to go with mommy to the ball" she rushed over and picked up a giggling little girl with slightly curly silky blonde hair and clear grey-blue eyes.

"She is all ready to go ma'am and so is little Ragnar, he looks quite dashing if I may say so in his suit, come on out little man and show your mommy how you look" the younger woman who had entered with the little girl, that Hermione realised must be Freya, Rags' sister, the other woman missed the ugly look that passed over Brunehild's face at the mention of her other child.

That was when three year old Rags made his appearance onto the scene, and Ms Svenston was right, in Hermione's opinion, he did look quite dashing in his blue suit, he really was a good looking child, he even had his hair long like he did in the present, but instead of a metallic clasp it was held back with a strip of embroidered leather. He gave his mother one of his little quirky half smiles, and what shocked Hermione the most, not the fact that at the tender age of three he was already doing the same smile he was at seventeen, it was the almost desperate look of yearning on his face as he looked at his mother, almost as if he was hoping for something.

"I told you that I would be taking my daughter, there was no need to get _him_ dressed" the sharp voice seemed to shock the smile of Ms Svenston's face as though it had never been there, little Rags though just lowered his eyes as though this was the norm in this household.

"He will not be going, Freya will accompany me and when we return I expect you to have changed him and put him to bed, as I don't want to see him for the rest of the evening" she didn't even appear to notice when the little boy turned and slowly walked away from the two adults, Hermione was appalled but the scene continued and she forced her attention back to what was happening in front of her.

Ms Svenston appeared to summon up her courage and said "How can you be so cruel to him, he is sweet child a delight to look after, he never makes a fuss or does anything wrong. He even told me that you would say something like this Ma'am; he didn't want to get dressed up but I convinced him that he must be mistaken, he was so hopeful that you would say something nice to him, that's all he wanted, a kind word from his _mother_." She almost hissed the last word at the other woman, whose face was darkening in rage as Ms Svenston continued her triad, Hermione agreed with her, if she had been there she probably would have slapped Brunehild.

"Jacob please take Freya to the kitchen and get her a drink and a biscuit, I'll sort this out" the butler moved closer and took the little girl in his arms and moved off, presumably towards where the kitchen was located, with Freya looking over his shoulder, her eyes filled with confusion as to what was happening and why her mother was so angry. When the pair were out of sight Brunehild rounded on the other woman, her face flushed with anger and said "How dare you speak to me like that in front of my daughter, and in my own home no less, if you weren't such a good carer for the two of them I would terminate your employment right now" this was the first time that Hermione had heard Brunehild even acknowledge Rags' existence, but the woman continued "as for him talking to you, I know your lying he never says anything, little bastard is probably a mute."

Ms Svenston jumped in again "No he is not a_ mute_, as for him not saying anything, he does speak, it's just that he doesn't speak to _you_. Look I know what happened to you" at the shocked look on Brunehild's face she continued "it was terrible, rape always is, but don't blame your son for it…"

CRACK

The sound of the open palmed snap echoed throughout the entrance way, Ms Svenston was stunned into silence her cheek showing an angry red mark where she had been struck "How dare you" hissed Rags' mother "that _boy_ is no son of mine, I have no son" she visibly calmed herself and said "Consider yourself relieved of your position, when my daughter and I return I don't want to see you in my home" with that she swept along into the kitchen, picked up her smiling daughter, and smiling herself left an equally stunned Hermione with Ms Svenston staining in the opulent entranceway.

A few moment later Jacob came out and said "Come on Nikki, I'll help you pack, its no use tempting fate and waiting for her to return later" he put his arm gently round her shoulder and lead her away to another part of the house, presumably where her room was located. Then Hermione heard something that sounded remarkably like a sniffle, she moved round a corner and sitting with his back to the wall was Rags, his suit a little rumpled, and she realised he had heard everything and she understood why this was such a painful memory for him.

It wasn't long before Hermione heard two sets of footsteps getting to the entrance hall and heard Jacob say "Wait here Nikki, I'll call the Knight Bus and give them your trunk; you'd better stay inside away from this rain I'll let you know when it gets here" she heard the man leave and glanced down at Rags, she knew that he didn't know that she was there, and that this was only a memory, but she didn't have the heart to leave the obviously distraught little boy.

Then very quickly he dried his tears and freed his hair from the leather chord shrugged off his suit jacket and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him into the entrance hall. "Nanny N" he called out in a surprisingly clear sweet voice, Ms Svenston turned round and saw him, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Are you leaving Nanny N?" he asked his voice small, almost as if the thought of something so terrible was something he didn't want to think about.

"I'm sorry little man but I am, your mother doesn't want me here anymore" she steeled herself as though she was going to say more, but she didn't, just looked at him sadly.

It was then that Rags did something unexpected; he walked over to her and held out his right hand, as though he was initiating a handshake. Nikki Svenston looked surprised for a moment, but as she held out her hand to take his, he quickly dropped it and brought his left one up, then faster than you could blink he had tied the leather chord, that had bound his hair around her wrist. Nikki glanced at her hand in surprise and then looked into his tear filled eyes, and Hermione heard him whisper softly "So you won't forget me", the words seemed to have the same affect on both Hermione and Nikki, both had tears streaming down their faces, but Nikki was the one to scoop Rags up into a tight hug, one he fiercely returned.

Both of them clearly heard his next words as well "Could you take me with you Nanny N?" the little whisper was so hopeful that Hermione thought that she was going to cry her eyes out at the injustice of it all.

Nikki obviously thought the same thing and hugged the little boy tighter "I wish I could little man, but I can't" she cupped his tear streaked face in her hands and said "But I promise on my honour that I will _never _forget you, you understand me _never_" he nodded sadly. Than Jacob's voice echoed through the hall saying that the Knight Bus was here, giving him a last tearful hug Nikki grabbed her handbag and left the house. Rags just went upstairs, followed by Hermione, went into a blue painted room fell on the bed and cried himself to sleep.

Then the darkness swept in just as his eyes closed and Hermione knew she was going to see another terrible memory.

--

She was surprised to see that she was standing in a large lounge room, three sofas were scattered around the room, along with some smaller chairs; all made of expensive looking black shiny leather. She looked around and saw the young figure of Ragnar kneeling on the floor next to an expensive looking coffee table he appeared to be drawing, nothing special just normal child drawings, although his did seem to feature men with long beards, swords and dragon prowed ships, so she guessed that there must be some Viking artwork around the house somewhere. She noticed that the drawings were actually quite good, especially for someone his age, upon closer inspection of Ragnar himself she placed his age at no older than four or five.

She could also hear music in the background, a familiar tune; if it wasn't so muffled by the walls she could have recognised it, looking round she noticed that Rags appeared to hear it as well, but was doing his best to ignore it. Hermione couldn't help but wonder why _'Maybe Rags doesn't like music…wait it's… oh Rags' _Hermione felt like she wanted to cry again, the song that she could hear was none other than Happy Birthday, quietly the door to the lounge room opened and a blonde haired girl stepped through carrying something behind her back.

"Freya what are you doing up here, your party is going on downstairs?" Ragnar asked, drawing Hermione's attention away from the girl and back to what was going on around her.

The little girl grinned and said "I know, I would have come up sooner but the others are starting to leave now, mum is a little busy looking after them all so I was able to sneak up here with your present." Rags made no verbal response but gave a quirky half-smile and stood up, with his right hand behind his back, concealing something from his sister's eyes.

"I hoped you would come up here, now I can give you _your _present too" he replied, the pair grinned slightly at each other and stepped so they were within arms reach of the other and held out their gifts.

Hermione smiled slightly at the gift given to Rags, it was something that any child should have on their birthday; it was cake. A plate upon which was a delicious slice of what looked to be a several layered chocolate cake, with accompanying fork offcourse. The gift that Freya got was something else entirely, Hermione realised that Rags probably hadn't been able to go anywhere to get a present for his sister so he had done what countless children had done before him; he made a present.

Hermione noted that he handed his sister a rolled piece of parchment bound with a black ribbon, he then carefully placed the cake on the table he had been drawing on and looked back to his sister to see her carefully take the ribbon off the parchment and place it in her pocket, then unravel the rolled parchment to reveal a drawing. Hermione gasped out loud, this was no child's drawing, it couldn't be, it was a picture of a rose sketched with pencil, there was no colour but it looked almost lifelike nonetheless, it even had dew drops drawn on the petals. The girl gasped "Brother this is beautiful, it must have taken you so long to do" she gently put the picture on a nearby chair and threw her arms around her brother in a great hug, a hug which even though, caught Ragnar by surprise, he enthusiastically returned.

_He probably doesn't get many hugs_ Hermione thought to herself sadly as she watched the tender scene. It was then that a voice called up the stairs calling Freya down to open up her presents, the hug ended and Freya gave Rags a small smile before darting out, grabbing her picture on the way out, at the door she looked back and said "Happy Birthday big brother" she then sped out, presumably down the stairs to open her presents with her mother.

Rags, still smiling his quirky little smile, settled down to eat his cake, Hermione smiled at the happy scene, even though it was tinged a little by sadness it didn't seem nearly as bad as the previous memory she had seen. It couldn't have been long after Rags had finished his cake, and had continued drawing the picture he had begun before his sister came in, when an explosion rocked the house, and a woman's scream echoed up the stairs.

Rags dropped the pencil that he was using and ran to the door, he stuck his head out, and Hermione looked out over the top of his head. They had opened the door just in time to see Brunehild, carrying a screaming Freya, come running up the stairs and down the hallway towards a room. Rags seemed to get some form of significant insight to the situation as he took of sprinting towards the other room, the door closed almost at the same time that Rags go to it, he only just go through. Hermione didn't make it, but a moment later she suddenly found herself inside the room _"I must be confined to being wherever Rags is"_ she thought to herself.

She took a moment to look at her surrounding, still wondering what the hell was going on, and noticed that she appeared to be in some form of a wizarding panic room, she recognised it as such because, in true Hermione fashion she had read a book all about it and had considered talking to her parents about getting one installed, especially seeing as the war with Voldemort was setting up to go on for a long time.

Her suspicion was confirmed when Brunehild, still holding her daughter, moved to the closed and bolted door and waved her wand in a complicated gesture, muttered a spell, and the outline of the door glowed a vibrant green for about three seconds. Then Brunehild moved back to a bench that could be converted to a bed in emergency, and held her daughter close and made soft cooing noises sending a spiteful glare in Rags direction as he sat quietly in the corner, trying to make himself as small as possible.

Hermione was watching the scene intently, but as she was the one standing closets to the door, she heard clearly what was said from the other side. A sinister voice, obviously distorted by magical means, said "We only want the boy, give him to us and all others in the house will be spared."

Hermione glanced horrified in the direction of Brunehild, she appeared to take no time at all in reaching her decision, she got up and placed her daughter gently on the bed, made her way over to her son, ignoring his terrified cries, dragged him to the door opened it half way, and threw his into the corridor.

Hermione found herself in the corridor with Rags, as he wept silent tears and looked back at the almost closed door with betrayal in his eyes, it was then Hermione noticed that one of the Death Eaters, for she could see that they all wore the skull masks of Voldemort's followers, had the toe of their boot lodged in the door. That same Death Eater drew their wand and said in the same raspy voice that had spoken originally "There is a girl; we take them both just to be sure."

It was then that Brunehild fought back clawing and battering at the Death Eaters with her bear hands all the time saying not to take her baby, but she was quickly silenced with a stunning spell. Rags just looked on, a lost and broken expression on his little face, that is until a well placed boot quickly immediately rendered him unconscious.

The darkness rushed in again as Rags perception of the world was stopped by him being unconscious, but Hermione had the distinct impression that this memory wasn't over. Clarity and sight returned slowly, as though Rags had trouble waking up, getting kicked like he did in the head Hermione couldn't really blame him, but he woke up eventually and Hermione was able to see the whole of her environment, and she was a little afraid herself, eve though it was only a memory and would not be able to hurt her.

She was fairly sure that they were underground, the walls and ceiling were all made of the same rough hewn rock, and the door was made of solid wood and bound with steel and bronze, which gave of a faint glow no matter how you looked at it, indicating that it was magically bound.

Hermione watched as he looked around the room himself, noting to two beds a single pillow and blanket on each, a small room with washing facilities in the corner, and that was it. Freya was sobbing on one of the beds, Rags got up from his bed and rushed over to her, only to be pushed back and screamed at "Go away, its your fault that I was taken away from mommy, just leave me alone, I don't want to see you again, I wish you weren't my brother" Freya then turned around, pulled her blanket over herself and curling up in a ball cried herself to sleep. Rags just stood there stunned, he slowly walked back over to his bed and sat down; he appeared to shake every few seconds like something was trying to get out, but he wouldn't let it.

Hermione's heart went out to him, alone and friendless in this dark place, but then he did something strange, but from what she knew of Rags in the present day, in complete keeping with his character. He looked over at the sleeping Freya, picked up his own, rather threadbare blanket and draped it gently over her sleeping form, went back to his bed and picking up his pillow made his way to the stony corner of the room and curled up and wept.

Things just got worse for the young twins though, it wasn't long after Rags had sat down when the door burst open and two masked Death Eaters came in, both with wands drawn. The first one said "So it's confirmed, the boy is the eldest, we won't get in trouble for this?"

His companion turned to him and said "You heard what McNair said, the boy is the only one they really need, so we can have some fun with the girl." With that both men advanced on the now awake and terrified Freya she clutched both blankets to her body and looked on at the two approaching grinning men, with terror evident on her face, and in her eyes.

"Get away from her" a shrill cry echoed throughout the room, and Rags was there, the little boy was not especially developed or strong, but when a man is punched in the guts, or lower, even by a boy it still hurts. He was there little fists whirling all the time screaming for them to not go near his sister, the same sister who hadn't moved, even to run away so great was her terror. All it took was one strike too many from the enraged little boy for the Death Eaters to begin to fight back, he was quickly subdued, but that wasn't enough for the men who thought that they could get away with doing god knows what to a scared little girl.

It was then that they started kicking him, Hermione watched as a boy of four was brutally beaten by two grown men, who thought that they were better than most other wizards, especially those of 'lesser' bloodlines. One actually took off his belt and was whipping the now still prone boy, but his companion soon pulled him away and whispered something in his ear, they both looked down at the still prone boy with fear in their eyes before they fled the room.

Hermione was horrified, not only that the two men would stoop so low as to attempt to torture, or do anything more, to a young girl, then beat a young boy in retribution for his interference. But also that seeing as she could stills see her surroundings, Rags must still be conscious.

His sister though appeared to come to her senses she quickly got out of the bed and rushed over to her fallen brother; Hermione was standing close behind her. Close enough to hear his small whimpers of pain, she noticed that his eyes were swollen shut and his left arm was at a wrong angle, she thought to herself that had she been awake she would have emptied her stomach of all the food she had eaten to boost her strength for this task.

Rags even flinched away from the gentle touch of Freya, and whimpered something that sounded like "Please stop", in a voice that nearly broke Hermione's heart, it was so bad that she wasn't sure how much more she could take, she wondered how Rags was able to function with theses terrible memories floating around in his head. The scene thankfully came to an end with Rags being embraced by his sister.

--

The horrifying images continued and Hermione saw everything, heard every painful word, she saw how he was punished when he wasn't able to do things for the first time, how he was awoken from his sleep by kicks and punches, and sometimes things that resembled the wizard version of a muggle tazer or shock stick. How as the years progressed he was taught more and more Dark magic by the Death Eaters, and how again and again he stepped in to save his sister from being abused by some Death Eater or another, she was there when he began his sword training in Kuro-Uindo, and how his diminutive half goblin half wizard sword master, Hirohito Yamatada, scarred him for every perceived transgression or mistake.

She wept her silent tears as he was forced again and again to go back with a Time Turner to repeat, weeks, months and years of the same cruel and gruelling tasks. She saw how he became colder and harder, from the first time they strapped him to the whipping post as an eight year old and he screamed with every blow that was landed, to the last on his sixteenth birthday where no sound past his lips, every year it was as though a piece of his soul was ripped away and he became harder and harder, harder and colder.

--

Hermione was the most horrified however when she saw the baby form of Voldemort, Rags appeared to be about fourteen at the time, although it appeared that the creature had spent his time between England and his base in Norway _'It must be how he evaded capture and detection for so long' _Hermione thought to herself as she watched a strange scene unfold before her. Peter Pettigrew was holding the infant Voldemort in his hands as a group of Death Eaters were assembling some form of magical chair, it had leather restraining straps and appeared to be made of bolted together planks of wood, all together Hermione thought that it was a crude looking instrument.

But she was not going to be seeing another training session or even a torture session, as she had come to call them. A fourteen year old Rags was lead into the chamber, his eyes a cold steel grey blue, never stopped moving, looking at everyone and everything, his expression hard and unreadable, but once he noticed the presence of Voldemort in the room, his entire demeanour changed. His eyes grew even harder, his already large muscles tensed under the plain grey robe he wore, and he crouched slightly as though he would be expected to fight.

It was then that the Death Eater behind him drew their wand and hit him in the back with a stunning spell; they dragged his large form over to the chair and strapped him in. What next surprised Hermione like nothing else she had seen, the Dark Lord began by explaining the plan for the contraption to Wormtail, who as per his nature appeared to be completely clueless as to what was going on.

The thin raspy voice of the infant Dark Lord echoed around the stony room "You see Wormtail, I am not happy with the progress the boy is making. Yes he is magically strong, and his abilities at the forge and with a blade are beyond compare, even Master Yamatada can barely keep him from taking his head when they spar these days." Voldemort looked over at Wormtail and gave an evil cackle "You haven't figured it out have you Wormtail, the boys magic manifests itself through his hands that's how he can do what he does."

Wormtail nodded his head in agreement with his Lord, and Hermione herself, although horrified at what was happening thought that it was an interesting concept, that a persons magic concentrated at a certain part of their bodies, but quickly brought her attention back when the scene progressed. Voldemort had his servant carry him over to the prone form of Rags, who must have still been conscious throughout the whole ordeal, she watched as he was handed a shining knife and slowly drew it down the left side of Rags' face, which brought him back to full alertness and explained the scar he bore in the present time.

"Now boy" the Dark Lord said "you remember that conversation we had the other day, you have to agree to go through with the ritual, or it won't work." Rags just sneered and spat in his face, Voldemort hissed with fury and had Wormtail strike him on the injured side of his face. "Remember what I said, agree or my Death eaters will take their sport with your precious sister."

It was then that Rags' eyes widened in terror, but he nodded his head in acquisition, Hermione noted that he didn't speak, in fact he hadn't spoke in many of the memories that she had seen; it appeared that he still only spoke to the people that he cared for or trusted. "Very good, now take that potion" Rags was forced to swallow a disgusting looking brown potion that looked a little too much like swamp mud to be healthy, he shuddered as his eyes rolled back into his head and his back arched like he was in pain. "Ah good it is working soon I will be able to transfer my knowledge over to him, then if our plan for this year fails, I will have a better chance of taking his body instead."

Hermione realised that this was when Harry was in his fourth year during the Triwizard Tournament, she paled thinking that if Voldemort's plan to be resurrected had failed then he would have tried to posses his only son, and she hated to think what would have happened then. But her attention, as it so often in the past few hours, or days, she wasn't really sure, by a scream. The infantile Voldemort had put his tiny child hands on each side of Rags' face and was chanting something in a low guttural hissing language.

There was a sickening flash of green light and the Dark Lord sat back, an evil smile on his childlike face "There it is done, I don't know how long it will take for the knowledge to be assimilated by his conscious mind, but it should make him more powerful and a much better weapon if all my plans bear the fruit that they should."

Wormtail spoke for the first time "My Lord you really mean to put him up against Potter, what of the prophecy?" the man winced as though he was expecting to be struck or cursed. Indeed Voldemort had his wand raised in his childlike grip but stopped short for some reason.

"You actually asked an intelligent question Wormtail, how intriguing. Very well I shall indulge your curiosity this once, I don't know the full prophecy so I shall have to wait until I am whole and fully returned to my former strength before I go after it, also Potter will not be expecting someone like the boy to get close to him and kill him, I just need a more effective way of controlling him, the _imperious_ curse no longer has any effect on him, those fools used it too much when they used the Time Turner, and although he would do much to save his sister, die for her yes, but killing to ensure her safety is another matter entirely." The pair slowly left the room and Hermione noticed that the colour at the edges of the room was slowly dissolving as though Rags' perception of things was slipping away, looking back at his slumped figure in the chair, she saw him fighting to remain conscious, a fight he lost and the world dissolved once again.

--

The next set of memories were a sick parody of the Triwizard Tournament, Voldemort had obviously liked the idea of putting up a wizard against magical tasks, that tested their strength, cunning and magical intelligence. One of the tests that Hermione saw was one that involved Rags pitting himself against Wyverns, smaller wingless dragons that looked more like a dinosaur than a fire breathing beast, he did not have to retrieve a golden egg, but had to survive until the end, instead of outflying a dragon, this was where he got the large 'S' shaped scar on his chest.

She also saw a memory that took place just after his sixteenth birthday, it was his and Freya's attempted escape from the estate upon which they were held.

She saw how Freya lured one of the guards into the cell like room in which she and her brother were kept, when he wasn't being trained, and she wasn't being used as a servant to assist the estates small army of house-elves. Hermione was shocked, but not as much as she would have been before seeing all of the memories, at the ease of which Rags stepped from the shadows while the Death Eater guard's attention was elsewhere, and neatly decapitated him with his sword, that Hermione immediately recognised as Matsuro, the coldness in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine.

She watched the twin's flight from the place of their imprisonment, and was once again astounded at Rags' fighting prowess, he moved like a dancer, no movement wasted, every flicker of the sword in his hands either moved down the enemy in his path, or disarmed them; literally, it was like watching a living piece of quicksilver. She saw him, in only three moves defeated his sword master and run him through, moving on without so much of a backward glance.

She saw as Ragnar moved first down the corridor taking care of any Death Eater that got in their way, the rounded another corner and a small elf jumped into Freya's arms, the twins seemed to expect it, Hermione realised that they must be conforming to a pre-discussed plan. Freya stayed close to her towering sentinel of a brother, her beauty matching his fierceness, and even though she knew better Hermione thought that the two of them might make it out of the dungeons of the estate and escape.

But offcourse this was not to be, the three fugitives had barely gotten out into the moonlight when they were surrounded by the Death Eaters, Ragnar fought bravely, but his skills and power were no match for sheer force of numbers. He was lagging behind the other two when a sinister voice said "Drop the sword boy. You cannot defeat all my servants, and you are too valuable to kill, this one though…" he trailed off ominously as Rags whirled round and then Hermione saw that Voldemort was holding a struggling Freya by her hair.

There was a metallic sliding sound as the magnificent sword Matsuro was roughly stabbed into the ground "There now let her go", Hermione was shocked at how his voice sounded; it was rough, deep and filled with anger. Nothing like the soothing deep voice he had during the present day _'And this wasn't very long ago either, barely a year' _she thought to herself.

Time seemed to slow down then, Rags' eyes widened as he realised almost a full second before it happened, his sword once again in his hand and grey mist swirling around him he surged forward, only to see the green light of the killing curse take the light away from his sister's eyes. Hermione was then treated to something that she hadn't seen before, the edges of what she could see became blurry, almost like what happened when Rags was falling asleep or unconscious, but they were tinted with red this time, she realised that it was the all consuming rage that he felt at the time.

Fortunately for Hermione the memories became fragmented from then on, only vague images, sensations more than true visions of what happened. She saw him and Dizzy standing on a rocky outcrop in front of a black marble headstone overlooking an enormous fjord, saw the two of them in a small boat heading out to sea Rags standing defiant at the prow, almost willing for someone or something to try to strike him down. She saw how he and Dizzy were found washed up on the beach by members of the Order of the Phoenix, how he was taken to the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Ally and healed back to some semblance of being a human being. The last painful memory that she saw was the confrontation in the Headmasters office and the pain was so much clearer to see now that she could move closer to him.

Then she felt herself lurch and a blinding white light filled her vision, and she came to realise a few things about Rags that she had seen in his memories, firstly he had a deep ingrained fear of being alone, or more specifically being alone at the end and having no one to remember him, and also that he felt that he deserved what happened to him, and thought less of himself than he did of other people and sometimes thought of himself as a monster, and most shocking, he didn't sleep, he hadn't slept since he had been found on the beach, he had survived on meditation and concentrated Pepper Up Potions, and then she found herself back in the Hospital wing.

--

Madame Pomfrey rushed forward and put her hand on Hermione's shoulder to steady the girl as she swayed where she sat. "Hermione dear just take things easy alright, you have been sitting like that for two days straight you may need to wait a minute to let your balance readjust." Noticing all the signs she quickly conjured up a bucket, into which Hermione threw up the contents of her stomach, Poppy had dealt with many cases of being sick so she knew what to do, and gently started rubbing Hermione's back in soothing circles as the girls stomach settled.

Hermione looked up at Madame Pomfrey with tears shining in her eyes and whispered "How could they? All they did to him, how? Why?" Madame Pomfrey just pulled her into a gentle hug, something that she didn't normally do, and both of them looked down at the peaceful, pale form of Ragnar Valerian.

--

Sleeping her own bed did Hermione the world of good, even though her dreams were centred on what she had seen inside Rags' head, she still felt much better the following morning, she thought back to what Madame Pomfrey had said to her before she left the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey had said that the memories would soon fade, not disappear completely, but become almost like a muggle film that she had seen a fairly long time ago, its affect on her would fade, but she would be able to recall the events that she had witnessed. Madame Pomfrey had also told her something that she had been wondering for a while, ever since she knew that Rags was a victim of what Wizarding Medics called Time Turner abuse, she wanted to know how old he was mentally, that is how old his mind was because even though the body doesn't age the mind does, and she had gasped in surprise, Rags was a seventeen year old with a twenty four year olds mind, he had been trapped in a living hell for twenty years.

She had been told to take that day off, that day being Thursday, Harry and Ginny were also with her, having been given the day off as well. Hermione had told them all she felt that she could about what she had seen inside of Rags' mind including what she called her revelations, the insights that she had just before she returned to consciousness as well as his mental age. Harry and Ginny had told her that they had been able to get everything on the list they had made in the Common Room before Hermione had gone to the Hospital Wing, they each had at least one gift to give to Rags, all they had to do was wait for him to wake up.

--

Sound was the first thing that came back, there was a faint almost imperceptible sound of a voice, it sounded like it was far away perhaps somewhere in the distance. Then came smell, a clean strong disinfected odour, _'The Hospital Wing…Hogwarts…'_ thoughts filtered around his mind names _'Freya…Harry…Dumbledore…Ginerva no Ginny…Hermione'_. Everything came crashing back to Rags, he remembered Draco casting the curse at Hermione and him taking it for her he was about to leap from the hospital bed and find Malfoy and kick the crap out of him, but two things stopped him.

Firstly Hermione, Harry and Ginny hated him; if he rushed in on them he would probably find himself straight back here with more curse injuries. He sighed and lowered his head and then noticed a second reason for not rushing about, he was dressed only in flannelette hospital pyjama bottoms. "Ah" he said to himself and immediately started looking round for his clothes, when a squeaky voice called out to him.

"Master Rags, Master Rags youse is alright again" it was then with a soft pop that the little house-elf Dizzy popped onto the scene. She sat happily at the end of the bed and looked at Rags with adoration and happiness in her eyes.

"Hey there Dizzy" Rags said back, smiling at the little elf, who he considered much more like family than a friend "You can stop calling me Master you know, we're friends you know."

Dizzy had a strange look on her little face and would not meet his gaze this set alarms ringing in Rags' head, he could always talk to his little friend, but this was the first time that they had talked about this particular issue before, "Dizzy look at me, is there something that you aren't telling me?"

The little elf looked up and said "Yes Master Rags, there is" at his patient look she tearfully went on "It was after, after youse…" she pointed at his left wrist where three symmetrical scars that ran along the skin, the thing that set these scars apart from the rest on his body was that these were self inflicted. Rags glanced down at his wrist and looked back at Dizzy, his expression became slightly more thoughtful; he motioned for Dizzy to continue.

"After that… youse was in a bad state, I didn't knows what to do. I didn't have a master and Elf magic can be used to help their masters when they is in a bad way. So when youse was unconscious I… I is bonding youse as my master." She flinched away as though she was expecting to be struck, although Rags had _never_ so much as raised his voice to her, any wizard who had been bonded without knowing was well within his legal rights to kill the elf in question.

He lurched forward and grabbed Dizzy in a tight embrace; there were tears present in his eyes, "You thought that I would be angry about this?" Dizzy nodded her head against his bandaged chest "Dizzy don't you see?" the little elf looked up into the blue grey eyes of her master and shook her head, to indicate that she didn't understand, he continued "This…this makes us family" they held each other tight taking comfort from the fact that they were part of a family again, no matter how faint the connection.

--

Rags knew that there had been someone in his mind with him, at least at the end, and he had informed Dizzy as such, Dizzy had shocked him by saying how they had been so concerned for him and what Hermione had done to help him. "What day is it Dizzy?" he asked the little elf sitting on his bed.

"It is Saturday morning Master Rags, exactly seven fifty five" her eyes widened a little at the small quirky grin that appeared on his face.

"Dizzy can you do me a favour and get me some clothes, I have someone I need to see" Dizzy returned his grin snapped her fingers, and a clean school shirt, trousers, underwear, socks and his shoes were sitting on the chair next to the bed.

Getting dressed he grabbed his wrist holster off the bedside table, fortunately it still had his wand in it so he didn't have to go looking fore it. He kept the sleeves rolled down and tied the holster to his left arm, he checked himself in one of the Hospital Wing mirrors noticed the new scar on his face and said "Well that's new, just another scar", disposed of the bandages that covered his torso nodded to Dizzy, who promptly disappeared, and left the Hospital Wing.

He was able to get back to the Gryffindor Common Room without too much trouble, someone who could break out of a secure Death Eater facility didn't have a lot of trouble getting around in a large castle, especially early on a weekend morning. He snuck through the corridors, avoiding anyone he met, for some reason he wanted to see Hermione before anyone else _'That's a lie and you know it' _said an annoying little voice in the back of his mind _'You like her' _he stopped short and shook his head, he didn't want to bump into someone while his attention was elsewhere.

He got threw the portrait hole, thankfully the password hadn't changed in the eek that he had been in the Hospital Wing, and he settled down in his customary spot, relying on the fact that people rarely saw anything that was just under their noses, and waited to see who would come down first Harry and Ginny, or Hermione.

--

Hermione got up and ready for the day with slow sluggish movements she had been sure that their would have been some improvement in Rags' condition, but sadly there hadn't been, she got dressed in a warm jumper and her comfy jeans, put her hair up in a ponytail, she had discovered how to keep it smoother than it had been for the last six years, now it was smooth, shiny and slightly curly, as shown by the ingle strand of slightly curled honey-brown hair that came down over her face, and which she persistently kept tucking behind her ear.

Ready to face the day she went down the stairs to the Common Room and she heard a voice that she hadn't been expecting to hear that day, and was secretly scared that she would never hear again. "Hi Hermione" she whirled around and there he was, a little paler than he was at the beginning of the week, but there was Rags getting up from his traditional place sitting on the couch.

Rags was glad to see her, from what Dizzy had told him it appeared that any animosity between the two of them had dissipated, but he was still scared that some would remain. But he needn't have worried no sooner had he finished standing up then he was hit with a brunette missile and he found himself wrapped in one of the tightest hugs that he'd ever had, one that he returned just as tightly.

'_He's alright, this isn't a dream, he's here'_ Hermione kept repeating over in her head as she hugged Rags, and she noticed that he was hugging her just as fiercely, something that she didn't have a problem with at all. Then she noticed something different, normally Rags wore his robes, or at least his school jumper when he was in uniform but today he was just in his school shirt, and she could feel the thick ridges of muscle, and scars, that criss-crossed his back through the thin cloth, she just buried her head in his chest and let the tears flow.

Rags was trying hard to keep his own composure, he didn't want to break down in front of the girl he was so attracted to it hurt sometimes. It took the two of them a while, and thankfully no one else came into the Common Room, but they each compose themselves as best they could. Rags looked at Hermione and was about to say something when she did something unexpected, she put her finger to his lips effectively silencing him, removing her finger their heads began to inch closer together, until their lips met in a gentle kiss. It wasn't impassioned or needy, it was gentle and loving, it lasted less than ten seconds, but to the two people involved it spoke volumes, but it didn't stop them moving in for another kiss after the first ended.

A/N: WOW NOW THAT'S A LONG CHAPPIE, AND I WROT ROMANCE YIPEE, sorry the damn thing took me so long but I had laryngitis for a week so that threw my writing schedule right out the window. Thanks to all who keep on reading and reviewing. Oh yeh quick explanation on a couple of things, firstly the grey mist run that Rags does to move at incredible speeds, isn't my own invention it is taken from the fifth HP film when all the people arrive in the DOM, and no it isn't apparating, more will be explained in later chapters [so u have to keep reading don't u], secondly a more in depth description of the escape will be given but it will be told from Rags' point of view, and I stopped writing the bad memories casuse if I didn't this chapter wouldn't be finished till Christmas. Thanks again pls Read and Review, Cheers TBK


	12. The Four Reunited Mail Call

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, means a lot to me, a couple of people in Real-Life want me to stop writing this fic, but if you guys want to keep reading I'll keep writing. [P.S. More reviews = More writing, just a tip]

--

The second kiss lasted longer than the first, and was only _slightly_ more passionate. Hermione had her arms looped around Rags' neck while his left hand gently circled her slim waist holding her close, and his right was resting on her hip, no words were spoken, for none needed to be spoken, the two kisses represented an affirmation of feelings that had been denied for the sake of a friendship that was now so much more. The kiss came to an end and both young people were holding each other tight and just revelling in the shared feeling of being with someone, Hermione pulled back and looked into Rags' stormy eyes and said "I thought I'd lost you."

Rags looked back at her and whispered softly "For a while, I think you did" at her look of surprise he pulled her closer and said "while I was reliving my memories" she felt him shudder slightly as his memories came to the forefront of his thoughts, she just held onto him tightly as he said what he needed to say "I could feel myself slipping into madness as every terrible scene was replayed over and over again, as though I was actually reliving everything first hand. Until I felt someone there, although I think I only realised it truly when I woke up, when it all came together with a little help from Dizzy, who I will have to introduce you to later, who pointed me in the right direction, I realised that it was you. You brought me back, you saved my life Hermione."

Hermione blushed slightly and said "Well you did save mine first" she became serious after her first statement and said "why did you do it? Save me I mean, we had done the unthinkable to you; the time that you needed your friends there to support you we abandoned you and threw your friendship back in your face, why would you risk yourself for me?" She reached up and almost hesitantly touched the fresh scar on his face, it was barely a touch; she only used her fingertips so it was as light as a feather, but she did notice that he was leaning into the touch ever so slightly.

Rags decided to address the first part of Hermione's question first, considering he thought that he deserved what had happened in relation to the second part. He released Hermione from his embrace, and both immediately missed the contact and comfort the other could provide, he moved over and stood by the cold, empty fireplace and said "Because no matter what anyone else thought on the matter or even what you thought of me, what I felt and thought mattered. I couldn't let someone else that…that I cared about be hurt or even killed" he turned to face her and she saw the unshed tears make his eyes shine "if anything had happened to you I don't know what I would do? I care about you Hermione, and even though at the time I thought you hated me, despised me for who I was and what I told you in Dumbledore's office, I couldn't stand by and see you get hurt, I'm not strong enough to do that."

Hermione stepped forward and hugged him again, they appeared to be doing that a lot at the moment, but neither of them was going to complain about it. "Rags I don't know what we would ever be able to do to make this up to you, but it's in the past; can we try to move on and look ahead, and I care about you too, I didn't say anything because I didn't want to put any strain on our friendship." She felt him shudder, and she realised that he was suppressing his tears; she had seen him do it countless times in his memories.

Rags looked her in the eye and said "I know, that was my reason too" he looked thoughtful, and nervous, Hermione thought, for a moment, before saying "Hermione, um when the next Hogsmeade visit come along, I was wondering if you would like to go with me, as a couple, not just as friends?"

The grin that broke out over Hermione's features made Rags smile as well, properly this time not one of his little quirky ones, a couple of kisses was one thing but this would make them official "Yes Rags I would love too" she reached up and kissed him again, a kiss that Rags eagerly responded to, another thing that they were doing more an more of, but again neither had any problem with, and said "Now hurry up we should be getting down to breakfast" she saw him stiffen and the smile slip from his face, and she realised although the two of them had patched up their friendship, so that it was now an actual relationship, he still had an innate insecurity of what the others in the group would think, and even if he had a place within said group. "Rags please" she looked him in the eyes and said "please come with me down to breakfast, and lets treat this day as if it was any other, later on we can talk, _all_ of us, will talk and hopefully we can put this experience behind us. Please do this, for me?"

Rags seemed to be struggling with his thoughts and feelings; and Hermione thought that she might have pushed him too far too fast, she watched the emotions play across his features, too fast to count. Finally he took a deep breath and looked Hermione in the eyes, and she feared the worst until he said "Can I change first? My shirt is a little damp" he plucked at the damp patch on his shirt where Hermione had been crying a short while ago.

Hermione smiled and said "Go on just don't take for ever alright." Rags returned the grin and went upstairs to get changed, while Hermione sat on the couch and contemplated how radically her life had changed in the last half hour, she had woke up feeling depressed and unhappy and now, Rags was back and he was her boyfriend. "Boyfriend" she whispered "I like the sound of that, I wonder what my parents will say?", she looked up to see Rags coming down in a grey long sleeved shirt, trainers and jeans, the clothes were not a perfect fit, and looked like they had been chosen out a necessity to get him something, and she realised that it must have been done before he came to Hogwarts, as he would have stood out even more if he had worn either his dark silky robes, or his grey training robes. When she thought back, most of his clothes appeared to be plain unimaginative and rather dull and she thought that when she could she would see about getting him some better fitting clothes.

"Do I meet with your approval?" Rags asked, Hermione was jerked back from her contemplations and realised that she had been staring at Rags for a few moments longer than was _completely_ necessary, she rationalised to herself that he was her boyfriend now, so she was allowed to look.

She grinned and said "For the moment, I may need to indulge in my little used fashion sense at some point, but for the moment you'll do" she burst out laughing at the grimace that appeared on Rags' face, he may have been brought up in terrible circumstances but like most men, he had an inborn distrust of anything to do with clothes, shopping or fashion.

She got up from the couch and held out her hand to him "Come on lets find Harry and Ginny" she noticed that he still looked a little apprehensive, and as much as it hurt her to see it, she knew that he had a pretty good reason for behaving that way, especially given how he was raised and how his last meeting with his 'friends' had gone. Hermione smiled a little when Rags gave on of his quirky grins and took her smaller hand in his large strong one, and together the new couple made their way down for breakfast.

--

Harry was sitting with Ginny in the Great Hall, he picked at the sausage, bacon and eggs on his plate, he hadn't had much of an appetite since Rags had been hurt, none of the group had. Ginny looked at Harry concerned, it hadn't bee long since she had helped Harry get over the loss of his beloved Godfather so she hoped Rags woke up soon, she didn't want to have to deal with another loss so soon after the first. The whole situation felt as though there was a hole in the group, at times they caught themselves almost waiting to hear his voice on an issue, or his laugh or quirky smile at a joke.

Ginny heard the doors to the Great Hall open, and the chattering of the students slowly begin to fade and eventually fall silent. She looked up and saw who was entering the hall, and a huge smile spilt her face, she nudged Harry with her elbow he looked at her with a questioning look on his face and she indicated the doorway, he too glanced up and a grin appeared on his face as he saw who was entering the Great Hall.

--

Rags was still holding Hermione's hand as they neared the Great Hall, and even without looking at him Hermione could tell that he was nervous and apprehensive, and if she wasn't with him, he probably would have just gone down to the kitchens to get something to eat. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze; he looked at her and asked "Am I that obvious?"

Hermione nodded her head "Unfortunately, look I know you have every reason not to trust us, but please give us a chance to earn your trust and friendship back." That last part was said in an almost pleading tone of voice.

Rags looked at her sadly, and she was afraid that he would say that there was no hope of getting their friendship back, even though she was now 'with' him. "Hermione it is I who has to earn your trust back, not the other way around."

Hermione was sick of the way that he constantly put himself down and believed that he was the cause of all their problems, she had to find a way to help him break through his pain, like Ginny had done for Harry during the Summer. She decided to drop the topic and bring it up when they had more time to talk, hopefully tonight, _'I just hope everything works out for the best'_ she thought to herself as they reached the bottom of the great spiral staircase.

Suddenly Rags stopped, she looked at him and he seemed to be thinking to himself, and his eyes flickered around as though making sure that there was no one watching them, he looked at Hermione and pulled her into a gentle embrace, she returned the hug trying to show him support and affection, two of the things that had been missing for most o his life, he used one finger to tilt her head up as he leaned in a gave her a passionate kiss.

After the toe curling kiss ended Hermione, only slightly out of breath, looked up at Rags and said "Feel more confident now?"

"Definitely, I think I could face just about anything now, and I'm confident I could do it at anytime and anywhere, just as long as you were there with me" she looked at him surprised, she didn't know that his feelings for her ran so deep or so strong, but she was glad that they did nevertheless. She gently cupped his face with her right hand and kissed his cheek once.

"Come on, let's get something to eat, you have been unconscious for a week you _must _be hungry" it was at that precise moment that Rags' stomach gave an embarrassingly large growl, at his shocked look Hermione couldn't help but laugh, she tugged on his hand and pushed the Great Hall doors open.

Rags and Hermione walked into the Great Hall of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry to almost complete silence, nearly the entire student body had heard about the incident involving Hermione, Rags, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, and they had all been sure that the day in question would be the last time that anyone saw the big Norwegian alive. But here he was walking into the Great Hall holding Hermione's hand as though he had been doing it all year, suddenly before Ginny and Harry could get up and welcome their friend back properly, a piercing shriek filled the air.

Most of the younger students screamed, or yelled in a manly way for the male students. Harry pulled Ginny behind him and quickly scanned the room to see where the noise had come from, Hermione just about jumped out of her skin and grabbed Rags' arm for reassurance, but it was Rags who had the strangest reaction of all, he just grinned, raised his powerful right arm in the air and roared out in a voice that Professor Bins most likely heard up in the History of Magic Classroom, "AESIR".

The bellow echoed around the now silent hall, another shriek pierced the air and the entire student body, as well as many of the staff, of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry got whiplash in their necks at the speed at which they all looked to the rafters of the Great Hall, the normally clear sky that showed on the ceiling of the Great Hall became a mighty rolling storm, and from this storm shot a young Midnight-Falcon, it was nowhere near full grown, but he was certainly larger than the last time Rags, or even Dumbledore had seen him, but still everyone in the Hall couldn't hep but be gob smacked at the majestic bird, especially as it settled itself comfortably on Rags' outstretched forearm and nuzzled its head against his cheek.

Rags chuckled slightly, he hadn't been surprised by Aesir's surprise appearance as he had felt the Falcon roosting in the Great Hall long before he and Hermione had reached the bottom of the spiral staircase, it was one of the many perks of the bond that they shared, they could always tell where the other one was. "Hey there you, did you miss me?" he spoke out loud mainly for Hermione's benefit, and Aesir himself had managed to get him to comprehend that he understood words and phrases better if he actually heard them spoken, rather than heard them with his mind.

_[Yes, Aesir missed bonded one, Aesir couldn't enter mind and protect bonded one from the demons of his past and his dreams. But Aesir stand guard over sleep, no one hurt bonded one with Aesir there]_ the falcon was something between looking sad at not being the one able to help Rags, and being proud that he had protected the physical form of his 'bonded one' while he was unconscious.

Rags' eyes widened in surprise, he had never heard Aesir speak even remotely fluently before, but from the sounds of it he was progressing well and would probably be talking properly soon. He brought his arm around; still completely ignorant of the open mouthed stares he was getting from everyone in the Great Hall, including Hermione. "Hermione I would like you to meet Aesir, my bonded Blahdress companion. Aesir this is Hermione Granger, my girlfriend." Hermione beamed at him, he had just said that she was his girlfriend in front of the whole school; admittedly he had said it in a soft enough voice that the people sitting nearest them would have had trouble hearing what he said, but it was still close enough to a public declaration that she appreciated the sentiment.

Hermione wished that the girls that had teased her when she was growing up, and even when she came home from Hogwarts for the summer, could see her now, the girlfriend of a wonderful young man who truly cared for her, and didn't just want to use her for a quick shag. "Pleasure to meet you Aesir" she said looking the Midnight-Falcon directly in the eye, no mean feet considering that Albus Dumbledore himself had difficulties meeting the piercing silver gaze of the falcon when he appeared in the Hospital Wing after Rags had been injured.

The falcon stared resolutely back at Hermione, it was unnerving the way that he just kept on staring, then she felt a strange caress, somewhere in her subconscious, then she heard the voice. _[Greetings friend of bonded one, Aesir knows you were one of the three that hurt the bonded one, but Aesir understand that you also care for the bonded one, as long as your care outweighs the pain that you have caused. Aesir and Hermione will get along in peace]_

Hermione turned her shocked face to Rags who just looked at her, and she realised that the conversation that she had just had with Aesir was a private one, he hadn't broadcast the thought out to his 'bonded one'; a fact she was extremely grateful for. "He spoke to you, didn't he?" Rags' voice cut through her musings, she nodded her head mutely, still trying t get over the shock of having a bird, a magical bird, but a bird nevertheless speak into her mind "he must like you, usually he only gives impressions or talks to me, Hagrid couldn't get a word out of him" said Rags with a small smile on his face, especially seeing as Hermione had started to revert back to when he initially knew her, and everything that he told her got a goldfish expression from the attractive brunette.

Aesir looked quizzically at Rags for a moment, and when the large young man nodded his head, the bird waddled down his arm and looked pointedly at Hermione, who had absolutely no idea what the magical creature wanted, until Rags spoke. "Hermione he wants to sit on your arm, hold out your right arm and he'll do the rest."

Hermione, still slightly shocked at her brief foray into the realm of mental conversation, gingerly held out her right arm for the magical bird of prey to step onto. Aesir looked at Rags and he again nodded his head, and the bird stepped onto Hermione's arm, she grinned a little nervously at the bird, who rubbed her cheek with his own feathery head, she smiled more naturally, and she thought that he nodded his head in approval. Hermione's attention was grabbed by the patter of feet on the stone floor of the Great Hall, suddenly a small dark haired blur hurled itself at Rags and, had the little girl been a little taller, Hermione would have had serious concern for the condition of Rags' ribs, as he was engulfed in a great hug from little sobbing Emily Vakley.

"Rags, the Slytherin's were saying some awful things about you, about how you were not going to wake up. I even sat with you a few times this week, just to try and help you, seeing as you helped me, but I couldn't, I was so scared" then she broke down in a fit of tears. Rags was still standing there mostly in shock, it wasn't everyday that he was pretty much spear tackled by a little girl in the Great Hall.

He pulled the girl into a hug and said "Emily, it means so much to me that you tried to help me, not many people have done that during my life. I'm sorry I scared you, and I can assure you that I have no plans to be going anywhere anytime soon."

Emily sniffed a little and managed a weak smile at the half joke, she looked up at Rags and said "Sorry for grabbing you like that in front of the school, I just want to say welcome back" after another quick hug she dashed off to join her friends, who were anxious for any gossip or news on the handsome Norwegian sixth year, as were some of the older girls who moved closer to the chattering first years.

Rags turned and raised an eyebrow at Hermione "What was all that about?" Hermione just smiled faintly, Rags had no idea that he had affected so many people during his short stay at Hogwarts. Aesir just hopped off Hermione's arm and onto Rag's shoulder and made himself comfortable, Rags sent a mock glare at the bird and said "Make yourself at home", Aesir preened himself a few times and settled himself securely on Rags' shoulder, digging his talons into the grey fabric of Rags' shirt so that he could keep his balance.

Hermione tugged on Rags' arm to get his attention, as he had finally noticed that all the people who were currently in the Great Hall, which was most of the students, some were still abed like a certainly Weasley boy, and all the staff were watching them intently. "Rags you are Emily's hero, you saved her on her first night here, she probably thinks that nothing bad would happen as long as you were around, seeing you hurt probably scared her to death. You really mean a lot to a great many people here; you should try to remember that."

Rags flashed a smile at Hermione, she thought that she saw his eyes moisten but it could have been her imagination, for the next moment he was just standing their smiling, he indicated with his head and Hermione, for the first time, noticed that no one else in the Great Hall had uttered a sound since the pair had made an appearance.

Hermione's face flushed in embarrassment that everyone in the Great Hall had heard everything that was said. She glanced up at Rags and was shocked to see him smiling broadly, and struggling to hold in a laugh. Hermione's face broke out into a small smile too, and soon after that the Great Hall of Hogwarts rang with the sound of laughter and merriment.

Hermione took Rags' hand again and pulled him toward where Ginny and Harry had been sitting, Harry and Ginny stood up before the new couple got to them. The Great Hall's level of conversation had gone up to about normal levels, as people got less interested in what was going on between the four Gryffindor's, except those in their own House, those who knew that there had been some form of altercation between the four friends and that before Rags had been injured they had not been speaking to each other.

Rags looked nervous, Ginny and Harry thought he looked ready to bolt out of the Great Hall like a startled horse. Hermione released his hand and Rags looked like he was about to say something, but Ginny took the initiative. She stepped up and embraced the taller young man and said "Welcome back Rags", it was strange this simple action, and an even simpler statement, was all that was really needed to break the tension that had surrounded the four students.

Ginny was only slightly shocked when rags actually returned the hug, she could count the times that she had hugged her big friend on one hand, and normally he would stand their and give a gentle squeeze, and that would be the end of it, but to actually have him return the embrace was something new, and like Hermione before her, she could feel the thick ridges of muscle and scar tissue on his body, and tried to keep her tears in check, so much so that she nearly missed him saying "Thanks Gin, its good to be back." She then realised that Hermione had either gotten him to open up a little, or he had missed them as much as they had missed him during his isolation from the group. _'Or both'_ the red head thought to herself as she stepped back and hid her moistened eyes from her friend, but fortunately he had turned his attention to Harry, and seemed to be waiting on the other's reaction.

Rags looked at his shoes for a moment, took a deep breath and held out his right hand to Harry and said "Hey Harry", he knew that it wasn't exactly the best thing to say at the time but it was all he could think of. Harry looked at Rags' outstretched hand, gave a small smile and took it in his own giving it a firm shake, without letting go he pulled Rags into a quick man-hug with the other hand. Both young men patted each other on the back a few times before letting go, they didn't say anything, mainly because they were kindred spirits, individuals that had gone through a great deal of pain in their young lives and lived to tell the tale, and secondly because guys didn't go in for all that mushy stuff anyway.

The four sat down to breakfast together, and after some initial awkwardness were soon chatting like nothing had ever come between them. The rest of the students at the Gryffindor table all seemed to glance at the four students from time to time, jus to make sure that they _all _really were there and that this wasn't some magically induced hallucination.

After a suitable introduction to Aesir breakfast went as usual, with Neville, Dean and Seamus coming over to talk to Rags about what happened in the incident involving Hermione and the curse. They were also the ones that told Rags that Draco, Crabbe and Goyle hadn't been expelled, and that it was Draco's father, fresh from Azkaban, that had pulled some strings and had the Headmaster stopped from removing his son and his goon like friends from the school, for although the Headmaster had a lot of power within the school, he was still bound to follow the directives of the school board of governors. Strangely enough the young man didn't rant or rage, he didn't; even swear, unlike another green eyed member of Gryffindor House had when he had found out that the only punishment that the Slytherin's were going to get was a deduction in house points and detentions for a month, Rags just smiled, not an overly pleasant one and said "Oh well, can't win everything I guess" before he turned to conversation back towards the things he had missed while he was unconscious.

--

Albus Dumbledore watched the four close friends chatting to the students around them and couldn't help but smile; it was one of the most rewarding things about his job, being able to see the interactions of young people and the friendships and relationships that blossomed from such contact. He realised that this was the perfect time to announce his surprise for the school year, standing up in front of all his students he got their attention by shooting some sparks form his wand, when all their eyes were upon him he smiled his patented grandfatherly smile, and he was secretly forced to admit to himself that he liked having the schools attention at times like this, well any attention really _'Something that Minerva is constantly reminding me about' _he thought to himself before beginning to speak.

"Good morning to you all" he said in a voice that easily reached the back of the cavernous hall, "now that I have you attention there is an announcement that I would like to make, but first Mr Valerian when you have finished your breakfast could you kindly return to the Hospital Wing so that Madame Pomfrey can check you over once more, it appears that she forgot to do it before releasing you this morning" take the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes and Rags' slight flush of embarrassment, and everyone knew that he had left the Hospital Wing without permission from the school nurse, and that the Headmaster had called him on it in front of most of the school.

"Now for my official announcement, I have discussed this with the Heads of House and we have decided that this Halloween we shall not be holding a celebratory banquet" he raised his hands to shush the students that had set up the groan of disappointment, the Halloween feast was one of the larger dinners of the school year, and the food was usually more interesting to boot. "Instead" the elderly Headmaster continued "we shall be holding a Halloween fancy dress ball, to which the whole school is invited, anyone in third year or above may come as a couple, thank you that is all."

The old man couldn't help but smirk to himself at the excited chatter going on amongst his students, the fast paced chatter of the girls, talking about getting a date and what they were going to wear, and the low mumbles of the boys, wondering what the _hell_ they could wear without looking like a complete berk, and how they were going to get a date, especially since _everyone_ knew that the girls travelled in packs.

--

Rags quickly excused himself from the others after agreeing to meet them in the Common Room after he was done in the Hospital Wing, he gave Hermione's hand a quick squeeze before he left, something that didn't go unnoticed by Ginny, or any of the other girls sitting at the Gryffindor table, but until they had conclusive evidence to the contrary then they were going to assume that Ragnar Valerian was still on the market.

It had only been a few moments since Rags had left the Great Hall and he was taking the long way to the Hospital Wing, he had been lying down for a week so he had a fair amount of excess energy to burn off, and after rounding one of the many corners in Hogwarts he saw the perfect opportunity to release some of it.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle had rounded the corner and were coming towards him, the three Death Eater try-hard's hadn't noticed the big lad at the end of the corridor as they were so deep in conversation, a conversation that Rags noted included the words "Mudblood" and "Put her in her place", he deducted that they were talking about Hermione, and a dark smirk filtered its way across his face.

Draco Malfoy was at the moment rather unsure how he felt; he was immensely pleased that his father still had the political power to shield him from whatever flak he may incur by Dumbledore and the rest of his goody-to-shoes side, but he was also incensed that the Mudblood's had started to loose their respect, in reality fear, of him and the rest of the Slytherin Purebloods. His internal monologue and planning conversation with his goon squad was interrupted by a voice that would have frozen helium, and because the blood in the most powerful of Dark Wizards to freeze where they stood, the same thing happened to the three Slytherin's when they heard the voice say.

"Hello lads, so glad to see you again", the looked up into the smirking, freshly scarred face of Ragnar Valerian. They were frozen in mid stride at the sight of him, it wasn't the way he was standing, he was standing rather normally and unthreateningly, it wasn't surprisingly, the tone of voice. It was the eyes, his eyes were an almost solid block of viridian, and you could barely discern the pupils in the eye, the three Slytherin's were terrified.

"Wands" Malfoy screamed in an uncharacteristically loud squeaky voice, as he and his three goons were trying to get their wands, a shroud of grey mist surrounded Rags, so much that only his body outline and his viridian eyes were visible, and he moved with a speed that the three Slytherin's found hard to follow. Within a second he had moved from the end of the corridor and was standing before them, he snapped his face forward and for the second time that year shattered the heir to the Malfoy line's nose, he sent a stunning right hook into Crabbe's face breaking his jaw, and using the elbow of the same arm to crack Goyle's cheek bone, who was standing on the other side of Malfoy.

Rags grabbed Crabbe by the throat with his left hand, and Goyle with his right, and placed his foot on the fallen Malfoy's chest and said "You know Malfoy, I am so glad that your father was able to keep you three in this school, you see you saved me a lot of trouble" he glanced down and saw Malfoy struggling to stop the blood flowing from his nose, while reaching around Rags' foot, he got one of the dark smirks for his efforts.

"You did _really_ did Draco so you have my thanks, by having your father keep you three here" he leant down pulling Crabbe and Goyle with him, the two of them who were slowly turning blue, he supported them with the massive muscles of his arms, and got close to Malfoy, who couldn't help but notice the incredible strength and flexibility of the Norwegian young man, it was strange what you noticed in times of stress, Rags' voice snapped Malfoy's attention back, the fact that he kept repeating himself slightly was all the more spine chilling "by keeping you three here, its just made it that much easier to find you."

Malfoy was terrified, and couldn't stop the sigh of relief when it looked like Rags was leaving, a sigh which died in his throat when the viridian gaze was again lowered close to his face and he whispered in a voice that was more a hiss than an actual speaking tone "Oh and by the way Draco, if you ever try to hurt Hermione again, I'll bury you and your little friends in the grounds of this very castle. Understand?" at Malfoy's shaky nod Rags let them up and said "Now get out of my sight", once the terrified boys had rounded the corner at a full sprint, Crabbe and Goyle a little slower than they normally would have been, but they were still catching their breath after nearly being choked into unconsciousness, Rags felt a little dizzy, he put his hand on the wall to steady himself, but it soon passed, and he smiled to himself, now that he had laid down the law, he might be able to ignore the annoying Slytherin students from now on, although he did wonder why they were so terrified of the _Umbra Intentus_, or The Shading Stride, all it did was surround you in mist and allow you to move at incredible speed, the looked like they had seen some form of monster.

With that thought he strode down the corridor at his previous relaxed pace, making his way unhurriedly back towards the Hospital Wing, a room that was quickly becoming one of his least favourite rooms in the whole castle. _'I know that my childhood was terrible' _he thought to himself _'but sometimes all that dark magic that I was taught, really comes in handy'_

--

After being admonished by Madame Pomfrey for leaving early, he was given a clean bill of health, even if she as reluctant to do so. Rags was just leaving the Hospital Wing and was looking forward to a lazy afternoon with Hermione, Harry and Ginny, although he would be lying if he still didn't feel a little odd around them, knowing everything about him that they did, but he supposed that it would pass with time.

He walked down the corridor towards the entrance hall and quite literally bumped into Professor Dumbledore whop was coming the other way. "Excuse me Professor, I didn't see you coming" said Rags, quite shocked that he had nearly been responsible for knocking down the greatest wizard of the modern age.

Dumbledore chuckled, it had been quite a while since someone had bumped into him, most people tended to flow around him when he was in anyplace that could possibly knock him, but that obviously didn't protect him from the corners of corridors in Hogwarts _'One of the perks of being 'Greatest Wizard of the Age'_ he though to himself with no small amount of humour, without realizing that he had echoed Rags' thoughts. "No harm done Mr Valerian, although it is fortunate that we happened to 'bump into each other' as we did. I was just coming to find you, these were delivered to the school on the day of your accident, they would have been delivered to you personally but by the time the owls arrived you were already in the Hospital Wing."

He handed Rags two extremely thick, top quality, parchment envelopes, the larger bearing more than one seal adorned with crest's that Rags didn't recognize, he knew _some_ of the major wizarding families crests, it was part of his 'education', but theses were not any of the ones he was familiar with, where as the smaller one bore the distinct seal bearing the crest of Gringotts the Wizard Bank. "Thank you sir, but I don't know anything about either of these letters, I recognize the Gringotts seal, but that's it." He looked at Dumbledore, and his eyes communicated his confusion far better than his words could.

Dumbledore looked at the young man in front of him and said levelly "I recognize all the seals Mr Valerian, but is not my place to speculate what is contained within those letters, but I would appreciate being informed about any changes that may need to be made to your school files, if there are any, once you have finished reading them. Good day Mr Valerian." With that Dumbledore strode off down the corridor the way he had come, presumably back towards his office, leaving a confused young wizard behind him, and anyone who might have had the gift of sight and had looked at Rags at that time would have probably seen about a dozen question marks dancing around his head, he really had no clue as to what was going on.

--

Almost as soon as Rags was out of the Great Hall Ginny jumped up and grabbed Hermione's hand and started pulling her towards the door, as Harry moved to go with them Ginny whirled around and said in a voice, not that she would admit, that sounded very similar to her mother "You sit and finish your breakfast, Hermione and I need to have a girl chat" with that Harry sat down _very _quickly at the dreaded words _'girl chat'_ and resumed eating his scrambled eggs and talking with Seamus and Dean.

Hermione was shocked and more than slightly glad that she had managed to eat her breakfast before Ginny decided she wanted to use her arm as a pull toy, "Ginny what are you doing?" she couldn't keep the small chuckle out of her voice at what was going on, Ginny was like this most of the time, rather spontaneous and passionate, Hermione and Harry joked that it was because of her vibrant red hair, Rags said that Harry had driven her batty, she wasn't sure who was more accurate.

Ginny threw her a grin and said "You girl need to spill the beans, what was that all about when you came in with Rags this morning? You were practically bursting with happiness, not to mention splitting your face with that smile, and don't think I, or many of the other girls, missed you two holding hands, although they probably think that it was a friendly gesture, and that little hand squeeze you two had going on." It quickly became apparent to Hermione that she was not going to get a work in edgeways with Ginny acting like she was at the moment, so she decided to just go along with it, _'And apparently get dragged all the way to the Gryffindor Common Room' _she thought to herself. 

Once the two girls had reached the Common Room, Ginny plonked Hermione down on the couch and plopped down onto one of the nearby squishy armchairs and said "Ok Hermione, talk to me, tell me all about you and Rags, and no dodging the question now, I told you about Harry and me so fair is fair."

Hermione smiled and said "Well if you insist" Ginny's bobbing head looked like one of the muggle bobbing dog head figurines that they put in their cars, that Hermione had to consciously stop herself from laughing out loud. Then Hermione told Ginny everything that had happened that morning, from how she had woken up feeling so depressed and down, to walking dejectedly down the stairs and having Rags surprise her by being their waiting for her, when she told Ginny about the kisses the two of them had shared she blushed a little bit, but Ginny just grinned at her, once the whole tale had been told Hermione just sat back and waited for Ginny's reaction to the news.

Ginny didn't disappoint "ABOUT BLOODY TIME" the pretty red head yelled, shrieked according to a Hermione who wondered if all Weasley women could scream like a banshee, "Its only taken the two of you a month to finally get to the issue that you like each other" Ginny went on in a slightly teasing tone.

Hermione couldn't let that one slide, in a teasing tone of her own she said "Well I have a better track record that you in that regard" at Ginny's confused look she started to giggle uncontrollably, but managed to get out "How many years did you moon after Harry before the two of you got together? And I didn't stick my elbow in the butter when I first met him" that was the end of any serious conversation on Hermione's part as she descended into raucous laughter at her friends expression.

Ginny mock glared at her friend and poked her in her midriff, which she new was very ticklish and poked her to punctuate her words "That. Is. Not. Funny. Hermione. Jane. Granger." But soon the red haired girl couldn't contain her own laughter much longer and quickly joined her friend laughing hysterically, that is until the portrait opened and Harry stepped through.

He took in the laughing forms of his girlfriend and best friend/ sister and muttered "I don't want to know", which only made the two girls laugh harder "Ok I _really_ don't want to know."

The three were sitting, Ginny now sitting on Harry's lap as he had taken her place on the armchair with his arms wrapped round her middle, around chatting, planning on the best time to give Rags his belated birthday presents when the man in question walked in through the portrait hole, holding two rather thick letters in his hands and with a thoughtful look on his face. He took both letters in his right hand and scratched the back of his head with his left, as if pondering something, he looed up when he realised that he wasn't the only one in the room. He gave a small quirky smile and said "Hey guys, I didn't think you would all be here yet" he walked towards the couch and sat down next to Hermione who, much to his surprise, lifted his left arm up and snuggled in next to him, placing the large arm around her shoulders and hugging him.

The simple gesture brought a smile to everyone's face, Harry smiled because he was happy to see Hermione so happy, and he had managed to work out for himself that Rags and Hermione were together now _'I'm not as thick as everyone things'_ he thought to himself with another smile, Ginny smiled because it was romantic and mushy, and she really liked romantic/mushy stuff, Hermione smiled because it made her feel content and happy in a way that she hadn't felt before, and Rags smiled for two reasons, firstly he was sitting with his friends again after fearing that he had lost that friendship forever, and secondly Hermione snuggling up next to him made him feel special and needed.

Hermione hugged the large warm body sitting next to her and looked at the letters in Rags' hand and said "Rags, what are the letters for? And why didn't they come this morning with the rest of the post?"

Rags handed the letters to Hermione, who was still snuggled up against him, and she began to look at them intently, and found that she couldn't break any of the seals on either of the letters. "Well they actually arrived on the same day that I ended up in the Hospital Wing" he felt Hermione stiffen next to him so he gave her a gentle squeeze until she relaxed "but as I was leaving that very same place a few minutes ago I literally bumped into Dumbledore who gave them to me, although as to what they are for, your guess is as good as mine, but Dumbledore seemed to know what they were on about."

He was actually finding it hard not to laugh at Hermione, not a good thing to do on the best of days, she was still trying to, unsuccessfully, open the letters which Rags had handed over to her. "You know it might be easier if you used your teeth" said Rags causing Ginny to clasp her hands over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud, and Harry took the cowards way out and buried his face in Ginny's flaming red hair, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

Hermione on the other hand simply glared at Rags, noting his face which was rather _too_ innocent for her liking, but like in the Great Hall earlier that morning she found it hard not to laugh at the situation, soon after that the two couples were laughing together. When they had sufficiently calmed down Hermione said, with as much dignity as she could muster with her face flushed from laughing, "Alright then you open them" she then thrust the letters back into Rags' right hand, and grabbed his left one securely, so that it served the dual purpose of keeping her in his embrace and from using the hand to open his mail.

Rags just smirked and used his telekinetic abilities to hold the many sealed letter in front of him, and then wiggled his fingers in Hermione's general direction, which caused her to mock frown at him as he had easily spiled her plot.

As Rags and Hermione continued to act silly, Harry and Ginny had been plotting away in their own little corner, trying to figure out how they were going to surprise Rags with his belated birthday.

After a bit of wheeling and dealing on the part of Harry and Ginny, Rags and Hermione had headed off on a walk around the grounds, seeing as they had only just gotten together as a couple they would want to spend some time away from the inquisitive, and in one case hostile, eyes of Gryffindor House, and Rags still hadn't opened his mail, he had just stuffed it into his trouser pocket out of the way until he had a free moment to look at them. When the pair had disappeared out of the portrait hole Harry and Ginny bolted for their respective dorms, and moments alter came down clutching some brightly wrapped parcels, Ginny fortunately knew where Hermione had put her presents for Rags so that was covered, and they both left for the Room of Requirement with the presents clutched in their arms, they knew they had about forty minutes before Hermione said they would be back, if they hurried they might be able to get a snog in before the other couple returned.

--

Hermione looked at Rags a content smile on her face, he actually looked happy, he was smiling broadly and watching as Aesir soared above them as they walked around the Black Lake. He was still wearing the same long sleeved shirt that he had worn to breakfast; he wasn't wearing a cloak as he had insisted that he brave the cooler weather as he had been cooped up inside, specifically lying in a bed, for a week and he wanted to feel some fresh air on his face.

She pulled him over to a large tree and sat him down; she then settled herself between his legs and leaned back against his chest pulling his arms around her tightly. She expected and wasn't disappointed when she felt him stiffen behind her _'He really isn't very comfortable with physical contact is he?' _she thought to herself and was about to move so that she was sitting next to him, rather than practically on him, when again she was surprised. As she began to move the arms around her tightened and brought her back to Rags' chest, she smiled and felt Rags rest his cheek on the back of her head and thought she felt him smile.

"What do you think the real reason for getting us out of Gryffindor tower is?" Rags asked Hermione after a few minutes of just enjoying the peaceful quiet of where they sat.

Hermione grinned, she offcourse knew the real reason for Ginny and Harry wanting Rags out of the tower, and turfing him out on his own would have probably hurt his feelings and have the side affect of causing him no end of confusion. "Well, they probably want a snog without the two of us sitting there" she replied, and it wasn't; _really _a lie she told herself.

She felt a rumble behind her and realised that Rags was chuckling to himself, and in the position that the two of them were in she felt the deep bass rumble deep in his powerful chest, and smiled to herself, her boyfriend was quite a catch, if she said so herself.

The sat comfortably enjoying each others company, talking about anything and everything, except the topic of Rags' memories, but Hermione did manage to get a promise out of him that they would talk at a later opportunity, whether it be later that evening or in the next few days.

Their enjoyable conversation was interrupted by a faint voice echoing across the lake "…", Rags and Hermione looked up slightly confused, as neither of them could make out the fait words, or word.

Suddenly Hermione felt Rags' arms tighten around her slightly "Shite how many bones do I have to break today to get some peace and frigging quiet" Rags muttered to himself, and without realising drawing a slightly shocked and confused look from Hermione, until she noticed that voice was coming from a tall red haired sixth year student, one Ronald Weasley, who appeared to be looking for someone and was heading their way. Before Hermione could blink Rags had let go of her with his right arm and whipped his wand out from its sheath on his left forearm, under his shirt, and made a complicated gesture surrounding them followed by a muttered incantation.

Hermione didn't feel any different but when she looked down at herself, she saw what she expected to see, both of Rags' arms around her, as he had replaced his wand after his spell, and her own body lying on the ground and she could feel Rags' powerful chest behind her, but something was different. The difference was with her outline, she was slightly fuzzy, and by fuzzy she meant that there was a strange blur surrounding her, she leaned back and looked up into Rags' stormy eyes with a confused look on her face.

She got a grin for her troubles an he said "Modified _Notice Me Not_ charm, he won't notice us an if he gets within two meters of this spot he'll remember something that he should be doing right now and forget that he was looking for us, or more specifically you."

She frowned at him, a _Notice Me Not_ harm was a fairly complicated bit of magic, and combined with a _Confundus_ charm was practically unheard of, but using Arithmancy she could conceive how it would be done. Hermione couldn't keep frowning at Rags when he was sitting there grinning at her like a loon and was soon forced to return the grin. Hermione had just leant back against Rags before she remembered what he had said moments before casting his spell.

"Rags?" she got a grunt like noise out of him which she assumed meant that he was listening, "what did you mean about breaking bones today?" she wondered what he had meant, he obviously wasn't talking about himself as he was in perfect health, well she assumed he was.

"Well…um…I sort of ran into Malfoy and his gang of premature Death Eater Try Hard's, and there was a repeat performance of what happened on the train except Crabbe and Goyle were included." He paused after that statement, waiting for her response.

Hermione gently extracted herself from his grasp and turned to face him kneeling between his legs, looking at his face she noticed that he wouldn't meet her gaze, and was actually looking at his hands that rested in his lap. _'He thinks I'm going to berate him or something worse'_ she thought to herself. She reached out and grasped his large hands with her own running her thumbs over the large knuckles "Why?" she asked gently, not wanting to make him any more uncomfortable than he obviously already was.

Rags looked up for a moment, before he once again looked down; surprise registering clearly in his stormy eyes, Hermione noticed that they had dulled down to a more moderate grey, "You ask why? The only answer that I can give is that they were not punished for their actions. They _attacked_ you, without provocation, took away your wand and attempted to curse you with a spell that could have very easily ended your life; I couldn't allow that to go unpunished. I know I do not have any authority to punish them, and I apologise if I have overstepped my bounds" his Norwegian accent was more pronounced now that he was flustered "I had to do something, they should not be allowed to get away with something like this because Malfoy's _Death Eater _father payed some corrupt government official a ridiculous amount of gold to keep them here with nothing more than a loss of house points and detention."

He was breathing a little heavily showing the amount of passion, and in some ways, distaste he had for the subject, and he still wouldn't meet Hermione's gaze. Hermione, who was a little shocked at the revelation, used her hand to tilt his head up so she was looking him in the eye, and she could see the fear in his eyes, fear that she would reject him and no longer want to be with him, so she didn't say anything, she just leant forward and hugged him. Holding him close she felt his arms circle her and a breath that neither of them knew he was holding escape him in a ragged sigh, resting her cheek she whispered "Thank you, I don't want you getting in trouble over me, but again thank you for standing up for me" she felt his cheek move as he smiled and said.

"Anytime Hermione anytime" the two of them stayed like that for a few minutes before Hermione broke the silence by saying that they had been away long enough and that they should go and meet up with Harry and Ginny.

The two were walking back to Hogwarts hand in hand when suddenly Rags stopped pulling Hermione to a stop as well, she looked up at him, she was a little confused surely he wasn't having second thoughts about the friendship the four of them shared, well she admitted to herself that it would probably take a few days for everything to go back to the way that they were a week ago.

"Hermione I would like to ask you a question if I may?" said Rags in his deep rumbling voice, Hermione looked up at him and nodded her head, curious as to what he wanted to say that would involve them standing still and not continuing on their way to the Room of Requirement.

Rags took a deep breath and again took her hands in his and said "Hermione Granger would you do me the honour of being my date to the Halloween Ball?" he held his breath after that, although unlike the first time he knew he was doing it, and he freely admitted to himself that he was terrified that she was going to say no.

The squeal that escaped Hermione's lips however seemed to put most of his worries at ease, as he was engulfed in the most rib-crushing Hermione Granger hug, that eh thought, anyone had ever experienced, and that was saying something. "Rags I would love to go to the Ball with you" she then grabbed his head with both hands and pulled him for the most passionate kiss the two of them had shared so far, and then proceeded to drag him towards Hogwarts, now with the duel intention of telling Ginny about her new date, and get some costume ideas, but also for Rags' surprise birthday celebration. It was a good thing that Hermione had all of this planned out in her head, as at that exact time Rags was having trouble walking, let alone thinking, the goofy grin on his face wasn't helping much either.

--

Rags was only _slightly_ goofy looking when the two of them got to the door of the Room of Requirement, a room he was intimately familiar with, for reasons as of yet unknown to his friends, but he would tell them, he had mad a promise not to keep secrets from them again and he meant to keep that promise. He realised, on a subconscious level, that there already was a door in place, which meant that someone was already using the Room of Requirement, but the majority of his attention was directed towards the girl who was holding his hand and pulling him into the room.

"SURPRISE", Hermione couldn't help but give a face splitting smile, whereas Rags almost had a heart attack. He was usually observant, but today he was pretty sure he deserved a _little_ bit of slack so he hoped people would forgive him for his lapse in concentration, especially Hermione as he ahd drilled into her the need to be aware of your surroundings enough times in their training sessions, and having your best friends jump out from behind a couch in a generated room that looked similar to the Gryffindor Common Room, for someone who wasn't used to surprise gatherings the fact that he had neither cursed or started swearing profusely was, he thought, quite an accomplishment.

When Hermione, Harry and Ginny had stopped laughing at the 'Eeep' that had escaped Rags' mouth, a very manly 'eeep' in Rags' opinion, and his startled expressions the four friends settled down on the two couches that were available with the decent sized coffee table between them, and they decided to tell Rags the real reason for meeting there.

"Rags we three have asked you here today to rectify something that shouldn't have happened" said Ginny, Rags raised an eyebrow indicating that he was confused as to what they thought that they needed to put right.

"Rags, what Ginny is trying to say is that we're sorry we turned on you that day in Dumbledore's office" Rags looked like he was about to say something contrary to what Harry and Ginny had been saying but Harry held up a hand and continued "Rags please let us finish, whatever way you look at it we did turn on you and betrayed the friendship that you offered so freely, and this wasn't the worst thing that happened. You had just told us something terrible about yourself and it was a time that you really needed your friends to be supportive and stick with you; instead we turned on you like you _were_ Voldemort and not his unwilling son. Also we hope that what we are going to do here today will go someway to showing you how sorry we are."

Harry nodded to Hermione and Ginny who both reached forward and appeared to grasp thin air, and then jerking upwards with their hands they revealed that they were in fact holding Harry's invisibility cloak, but what was underneath was what really drew Rags' attention, several brightly wrapped parcels stood out on the tabletop, and he then heard his friends say words that he hadn't heard addressed to him before in his life "Happy Birthday Rags."

He sat practically open mouthed staring at the brightly wrapped packages on the table, his right hand fumbled quickly and grabbed Hermione's hand in an almost vice like grip, not enough to cause her any pain but certainly enough to get her attention. She looked at him and thought to herself _'He doesn't know how to react, he has never really had a birthday celebration before, it's a good thing we didn't go with Ginny's idea and include the whole of Gryffindor in this plan.' _She decided to draw attention away from the fact that Rags was wholly out of his depth and said "The blue ones are from me, the black and orange ones are from Ginny and the red and gold ones are from Harry."

Harry was a little shocked, he remembered that Hermione had said that Rags' childhood was terrible, but she hadn't gone into too much detail as she said that it wasn't her business to reveal Rags' secret past, but he had assumed that it must have at least been as bad as his own time with the Dursley's, and the small amount of moisture in Rags' eyes confirmed his suspicions that in fact much worse. He was about to say something when Rags beat him to it by saying "Guys…you didn't have to…I mean" he closed his eyes and took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts and when he opened his eyes again he continued.

"What I am trying to say is, thank you, I think this is the nicest thing that anyone has done for me in a long time and I really don't know what to say" Hermione's gentle return squeeze on his hand, and the idea that he had friends, friends willing to buy _him_ birthday presents, brought a real smile to his face, not his usual quirky grin that could mean anything from amusement, hope, or humour, but an actual full-blown happy smile.

"Well that only leaves one thing then doesn't it?" said Ginny, with a none too small secret like smile of her own. Once everyone's attention was on her, her smile became a mischievous grin and she said "You have to open then don't you?"

Everyone had a good chuckle at that statement, and it confirmed in Harry and Hermione's mind that Fred and George Weasley were not the only members of their family that were good at raising people's spirits, Ginny may not be in their league when it came to pranks, but in terms of getting people to laugh, she was their equal.

"Here you go mate these two are from me" said Harry, who handed Rags two rather large packages wrapped in red and gold paper, Rags with a grin still on his face tore into them with gusto. It only took him a few minutes to realise what was actually in the package, it was a broomstick, gleaming and new.

Rags sat back stunned, here in his hands was perhaps the most expensive thing that anyone had ever given him, he ran his hands over the sleek, shiny, highly polished wood and noticed some words engraved in gold at the top of the handle, they read _Nimbus 2000_, he blinked back a few tears, refusing to let his friends see him cry. He instead looked up at Harry and said.

"Harry this is incredible I don't even know how to begin to say thanks", Harry just grinned at him and motioned that he had another present from him to open. Rags picked up the second package and examined it for a moment before he began to unwrap it, at first glance it looked like the box that he used to keep Matsuro in, and except for the fact that this one was slightly deeper the could have been the same. He pulled off the wrapping paper and saw a fine looking chest emblazoned with the logo of 'Quality Quidditch Supplies', opening it up he saw a new set of Beater armour and a Beater club with his initials stencilled on in silver so that they stood out more against the dark wood.

He was speechless, in one single moment he had been given more gifts than at any other moment of his life. He placed the chest down reverently and moved the broom from where it was leaning up against the couch next to him and placed it on the box, Rags then got up and pulled Harry into a rough man-hug, he didn't know what else to do, he did whisper in a hoarse voice "Thanks Captain, I'll put them to good use."

Harry grinned and gave Rags a friendly slug in the arm and said "You'd better, the first Quidditch match of the season is against Slytherin" he got an answering grin in return and the two of them sat down again, both of them pretending that they didn't see Hermione and Ginny wiping their eyes as they did so.

"Mine next" piped up Ginny before Hermione could say otherwise, at the slight frown from the older girl she just grinned mischievously and said "what don't you want to give Rags your presents in private?", Hermione flushed the same colour as Ginny's hair and Harry had to clamp both hands over his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud, Hermione knew more hexes than most of their year put together and he didn't want to get on her bad side, but it was hard when Rags was sitting their completely missing the point of the conversation, and the sudden change of direction that it had taken.

Ginny pushed one of the brightly wrapped packages that was in front of her towards Rags and said "Ok you should open this one first, I think you might be able to find a use for this one", rags raised an eyebrow and opened the package and burst into raucous laughter, because inside the package that he had just opened were the latest versions of the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes Skiving Snackboxes, he was soon joined by the others as they realised what was in the present.

Hermione managed to get her laughter under control and said "Not that you'll be using those will you Rags?" the mock glare that she sent her boyfriend's way was a toned down version of the one that she had been using fro six years to get Harry and Ron to study, or their version of studying.

She got a quirky/ cheeky smile for her efforts and he said "Well I don't know about that" at her slightly shocked expression he said "maybe getting out of Snape's class might be good for an hour or two some times, or I could put it in his morning tea at breakfast, the _I _wouldn't be the one missing class" Hermione's frown became a fraction more realistic at his semi serious tone until he leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the nose and said "just kidding, but it is a pleasant fantasy."

Harry and Ginny were holding their sides with laughter as embarrassment, surprise, annoyance, and a little bit of pleasure all warred for dominance on Hermione's face, eventually she was forced to give in and laugh like the rest of them, this was how school was supposed to be fun and laughter with good friends, not fighting for their lives every year she thought, her attention was brought back to what was going on around her by Ginny giving Rags her second present.

He opened it up and a jacket fell out into his lap, but what a jacket, it seemed to be a mix of both leather and thousands and thousands of scales that seemed to shift between black and dark red depending on how the jacket caught the light Rags said "Ginny, this is a Dragon-Skin jacket, its' magnificent, how did you get it?"

Ginny just smiled "Well with my brothers joke shop now starting to outstrip Zonkos in terms of profits, all I had to do is call in one of the _many_ favours that they owe me and presto I was able to get a great present for a great friend. Now do I get a hug too?"

She stood up and caught Rags up in a very Weasley hug, one which Rags returned "Offcourse you can get a hug Gin" he then added in a teasing tone "do you really need to ask?"

The younger girl giggled and said "Well go on then try it on", Rags then settled the impressive jacket over his shoulders and admired the fit, the dragon scales allowing him to cut quite a dashing figure, if he did think so himself, unknown to him so did Hermione and Ginny, both girls were admiring the way that the Dragon-Scaled jacket enhanced his rather obvious physical attributes, Harry just thought the jacket was _'Wicked'_. Rags then took the jacket off and placed it with the _Nimbus_ on top of his Quidditch chest.

"I suppose you have mine to open next" said Hermione with a small smile and handed over a small rectangular package expertly wrapped in blue paper, which drew a small smile from both Harry and Ginny, trust Hermione to take something as simple as wrapping paper and excel at it, they also noticed that Rags opened this present a little bit more carefully than the others.

He un-wrapped a shining silver rectangle; he looked confused for a moment until he turned it around and saw that it was a picture frame. The picture he saw inside brought a smile to his face, something that was happening a lot now that he had 'woken up'. The picture was one that Colin Creevey had taken on the day that the four friend had gone down to visit Hagrid and had received their Blahdress eggs, the photo was a wizarding one, and the four figures within the frame constantly moved with the photographic Rags having one arm slung around Harry's shoulders, the other had a smiling Hermione pulled against his side, where as Ginny was pulled against Harry's, the four friends were smiling with youthful happiness.

"It's perfect" Rags whispered as he gently ran his fingers over the etched and engraved silver frame, and smiled as his and Harry's picture selves pulled out their wands and pretended to duel with the real Rags' fingers, causing the photographic Ginny and Hermione to hold onto each other with laughter.

Hermione, who had once again finally gotten control of her giggles, looked at the happy expression on Rags' face and felt glad that Harry, Ginny and herself had been able to give him a semblance of a real birthday celebration. "Here last one" she said and handed over another expertly wrapped blue parcel.

"Fantastic" Rags said as he finished unwrapping the final parcel, within its bright blue exterior was a set of magnificent books, these were not spell books, or even wizarding books, this was a true Hermione Granger gift, they were stories, some of the best that the muggle world had ever produced. Including _'Sherlock Holms'_, _'The Phantom of the Opera'_, _'The Count of Monte Cristo'_, and Hermione's personal favourite _'The Lord of the Rings'_ which offcourse included _'The Hobbit'_.

Hermione then found herself in the most rib-crushing hug she had ever received, with Rags' head buried in her hair and she heard him whisper "Thank you so much", all she could do was hug him back tightly and say.

"Your welcome" she straightened up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips and said "Happy birthday, may the rest be as good as this one."

With that the four friends fell into a comfortable silence, with Ginny sitting comfortably in Harry's lap, and Hermione leaning comfortably against Rags' side as he read the blurbs on the new books he had been given, when suddenly Harry spoke up "Oi Rags mate, what were those letters all about?"

Rags looked up and said "I don't know, I guess I forgot all about them, seeing as you guys masterfully sprung this on me" that drew more than one satisfied grin from around the room.

"Well go on then open them" said Ginny, who was apparently as curious as her boyfriend about what was in the letters. Rags dug around in his pocket for a few moments before he pulled out both letters, letters that to the surprise of everyone immediately flattened themselves out and returned themselves from their previously crumpled appearance, it was obvious that Rags' trouser pocket was not the safest place for mail.

"Huh handy that" muttered Rags to no one in particular as he looked at the letters in his hand, one bearing the crest of Gringotts, the other many crests that he didn't recognise. "Which one should I open first?" he asked his friends, hoping one of them would have a suggestion.

--

AN: FINALLY, whew sorry bout that but RL caught me by surprise, add in some UNI essays, crazy relatives and hey presto you have a long wait for the next chapter. But this one is a bit longer than the others, almost a quarter of the length of the total story so far lol. Please read and review, like I said 'more reviews = more chapters' cheers all. TBK


	13. Rings of a Lord & Feelings of the Heart

A/N: Thanks again to all of the reviewers it really helps keep me going, so you guys keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. Oh and to those who were wondering, the story is nowhere near being finished, just to let you know lol. I have much more planned for everybody's favourite wizarding heroes. BTW For those of you who don't know what colour Viridian is, it's like a chromed dark green. Now on with the story, enjoy

--

Rags looked at the envelope in his hand, shrugged his shoulders briefly when no one gave his a suggestion he decided to go with the one with the many seals on it, and began to unwrap it, trying his best not to break the seals, seeing as he didn't know what they represented he thought that when he had a few spare minutes he would take them to the library and see if Madame Pince would know what they were, or could at least tell him where he could find a book on the subject.

Finally the letter was opened and Rags began to read, he didn't read it out loud, his intention was to read it fully himself and then pass it along and see what the others thought, or at least specifically Hermione, she was after all, the smartest person in the room.

Hermione had watched Rags opening the many seal covered letter with interest, she was curious about all things related to the magical world, and seeing something that Ginny, who was a pureblood, didn't understand was something that she was certainly interested in.

The three friends noticed that Rags stiffened in his chair and sat bolt upright, you could almost feel the tension coming of him in waves, he quickly placed the first letter down in his lap and barely noticed the two small blue boxes that fell out of the envelope and sat neatly on top of the letter, as if by magic. He grabbed the second letter ignoring Hermione as she asked him what was wrong; and with much more haste than the first Rags tore into the second letter and quickly scanned through its contents.

When he sat back down he whispered in Norwegian "Kjønn meg det kan ikke ha rett", the others looked at him in shock, it must be something fantastic, terrible or some completely unexpected news that would drive Rags back to his native tongue instead of sticking to Queen's English.

"Rags what's the matter mate?" asked Harry, he had noticed Rags' reaction to the letters and was concerned about what was written within them. Rags looked up and noticed the confused and concerned looks on his friend's faces and said.

"I suppose you should read them it yourselves" he then noticed the two small blue boxes that had fallen out of the main enveloped on the letter with the many seals, he picked them up and passed the letter to Harry and Ginny, Hermione then went over and stood behind the pair and rear over Harry's shoulder.

_--_

_Dear Sir_

_It has come to the attention o the Wizarding College of Arms that you are the heir of two noble houses. We have, offcourse, done an extensive search into your genealogy and your family tree and have confirmed that you are the heir of both houses, as we suspected._

_You shall find enclosed in this envelope, the rings that shall proclaim to all that you meet your lordship over these houses. Your titles are as follows, on your Father's side you are the last descendent of the Hogwarts Founder Lord Salazar Slytherin, please note that you are not the last living descendent, but you are the last that meets all of the requirements that Slytherin himself set down for an heir to ascend to his title. As such the College of Arms had confirmed that you are the new Lord Slytherin, and you shall be recognised as such, and entered unto our own List of Lords, when you set the Slytherin ring on your finger, by accepting this position you have the right to bear the Slytherin Coat of Arms on your robes, in the right ascendant position._

_But this is not all; on your Mother's side we have confirmed that you are the heir of the primeginian line of Valerian, and as such you are the heir to the Valerian title of the Count of Wolfenspire, and the same as your Slytherin title, you shall be confirmed on our List of Lords when you place the Valerian ring on your finger, and as such you may bear the Valerian Coat of Arms on your robes in the right ascendant position. It may interest you to know that the primeginian line of the Valerian family can trace its ancestors back to the ancient warrior Jarl Beowulf Grendelsbane, so as such we offer our congratulations to you on being able to trace your lineage back to these revered people in history. _

_Another thing that you should be aware of is that your titles, like all wizarding titles, are very much real in the muggle world as well as our own. The only difference in the two titles that you have inherited is that the title of Count of Wolfenspire is based in the Kingdom of Norway, but is recognised throughout the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, so not matter where you go you shall be accorded the respect that is your due. _

_Along with this missive you should have received a message from Gringotts detailing any and all accounts and vaults that go along with your titles, if you have not received said letter then may we suggest that you get in contact with Gringotts at your earliest convenience._

_Thank you for your attention and if you have any questions that are pertinent to your new titles, or require any information on your family history, please contact me whenever you need._

_Sincerely _

_Lord Nathanial Sinclair_

_King of Arms _

_Wizarding College of Arms_

_London_

--

Hermione, who had finished the letter some time before Harry and Ginny, looked up at Rags in shock, an expression that was soon mirrored by Harry and Ginny. They were more than a little surprised by what they read, but at least in Hermione's case, she had already knows that Rags' family appeared to have been from old money by seeing the place that he lived in when he was younger, and Voldemort always referred to himself as the heir of Slytherin, and she had assumed that there was a title of some description to go along with the status as heir.

Rags tried, and was semi successful, in breaking the ice that had surrounded the four friends after the letter reading by saying "You three look almost exactly like I feel" there were a few chuckles from the group at that, as they realised that this news had come as great a surprise to Rags as it had to them.

There was a slight change of seating then as the three friends who had crowded together to read the letter now moved to where Rags was sitting as he was about to open the two blue boxes that presumably contained the two Lord Rings that would proclaim him as the lord of two houses.

Hermione settled herself next to him and Harry and Ginny stood behind him, so it was with baited breath that Rags opened the first of the two boxes. Inside was a ring that was nothing short of spectacular, it was a heavy mans ring made from flawless silver inscribed on the band were Nordic runes, and in the centre was a shiny black stone that although everyone though was spectacular it was only when Hermione told them in a hushed whisper what it was that they fully comprehended its value and rarity.

"That's a black diamond" Hermione said, Harry and Ginny looked at her in shock Rags hadn't taken his eyes of the ring since he had opened the box that had contained it. He turned the box slightly in his hands, letting the light from the candles play across the face of the stone, and the silver inscription on the face. It was obviously the Valerian crest, it was or a silver wolf like creature, standing upright facing the left side of the ring when you were looking at it.

"I don't recognise the crest or what the creature is" said Ginny as she looked at the silver figure inscribed on the face of the black diamond. It was Rags who held the answer though, and he replied in a hushed tone, similar to the one that Hermione had used when she had told the group that the stone in the ring was a black diamond.

"I do" without moving his head Rags knew that he had the eyes of his friends glued to him and the ring that he held in his hands, "The creature that it represents is one that exists more in myth than reality, legends of this creature have been traded around the wizarding world for centuries, some people call it the Thunder Wolf, the Night Stalker, or if you go further back than that it is sometimes called the Lunar Champion, its most common and accurate name though is the Wolfen."

He smirked slightly at Ginny, her reaction of a paling face and a short gasp lead him to believe that she had at least heard tales of the legendary beast, if not seen any pictures of one. "I see one of you have heard the stories of such a beast, there are very few of them left in the world, with only a dozen colonies or enclaves worldwide and only two in Britain they are exceptionally hard to find, and usually don't tolerate strangers within their lands. But they are some of the most fiercely loyal creatures in existence, you earn the trust of the Wolfen, and it will die to protect you. They are incredibly tall standing at least seven feet tall, immensely strong with large powerful muscles all over their body, and unlike werewolves they have the ability to stand upright and walk like a man as well as run on all fours like a wolf."

The four sat in silence after Rags had finished speaking, taking in not only what they had been told about the Wolfen, or about the ring, but also the simple fact that if rags chose to put on the ring he would then be a Count in both the eyes of the wizarding world and the muggle on as well. "Rags two questions, one how did you know all that stuff about the Wolfen and two are you going to accept the ring, or both rings?" asked Hermione, who found hat she couldn't take the semi-formal/ awkward silence any longer.

Rags couldn't help but smile at Hermione, she was always the one to ask the first question, or more accurately questions, which she did because she followed her own personal motto, or at least one of her own personal motto's which was _'The person who never asked any questions, never learned anything' _"Well Hermione, I knew about the creature because Hagrid gave me a ridiculously old book on rare and dangerous magical creatures when I went to visit him a day after the incident in the Headmaster's office" he noticed the slight cringe from his friends at the mention of that particular incident but kept on going without pause, something that they were very grateful of, "in it was a rather accurate, or at least what I presume is accurate, description of a Wolfen, its abilities and characteristics, and some other light reading I've done in the library on the subject."

This caused the others to grin and look at Hermione, who had the good grace to blush, as it was well known throughout the school that for Hermione 'light-reading' was just about anything from five hundred pages upward.

"As for accepting the rings I don't know, I mean do I really have any right to them?" he replied honestly, at the moment he was sort of sixty percent to forty percent in favour of not putting on the ring, he felt he had no right to it, and wasn't sure he wanted to be a Count.

Harry then asked the question that Hermione was about to ask "Does anybody know what a primeginian line is though, its not a term that I've heard before" he glanced around but it was Ginny that answered, seeing as she was the only real pureblood in the room she knew the most about wizarding customs.

"A primeginian line is something that is used specifically in inheritance and family rituals; in this case with Rags inheriting this Valerian title, the primeginian line is associated with that particular title and him being the head of House. A primeginian line is essentially, the oldest male heir coming from the most direct bloodline to the previous holder of the title." Ginny finished what was the most knowledgeable, and in depth wizarding explanatory speech in her young life, only slightly out of breath, and rather impressed with herself that her friend Hermione, the self proclaimed 'know it all', hadn't known a thing about what was being said.

"Rags I for one think you should put the ring on, both of them in fact, not only would this be a way for you to re-connect with a part of your history and your heritage, but it would also make for some bloody brilliant jokes where the Slytherin's are concerned" said Harry, who was all for having a best make you had a couple of titles strung along after his name.

Rags glanced at Hermione wanting to get her opinion on this matter, but she only smiled encouragingly letting him know that the decision was his and his alone to make, and that he shouldn't rely solely on what people would think if he did or did not accept either of his titles.

Rags seemed to look at each of his friends in turn, and seeing only support for his actions, picked the ring out of its box with his left hand and slid it onto the middle finger of his right hand. There was a small flash of white light as the ring resized itself to his finger, then the deed was done, and unknown to him Ragnar Thorkild Valerian had inherited one of the oldest titles in Europe, dating back to five hundred A.D.

Rags suddenly, and much to everyone's surprise, let out a rather loud snort of amusement, and at that confused looks he received from it he burst out laughing, causing Ginny's look of confusion to be joined by a frown of annoyance, Weasley's were not great fans of people laughing at them. "What may I ask is so funny?" said the pretty red head through gritted teeth, which only increased Rags' mirth.

He got his laughter under control long enough to choke out "There was such a huge build up over this ring, with the stone being revealed as a black diamond, and a legendary beast being the crest. Then the whole thing is over in a little flash of light. Rather anti-climatic eh?" he then lost himself in another fit of laughter and was soon joined by the others as the humour of the situation hit them.

The humour helped settle everyone down, there had indeed been a large build up since the letter revealed that Rags was inheriting titles, and the title of one of the four founders. But being able to laugh about it, didn't detract from the seriousness of the situation, but allowed them to deal with that very same seriousness in their own way.

When the four of them had finally calmed down enough to not have to lean on someone to remain upright Rags picked up the second box, Harry was of the opinion that you could cut the tension between the four of them with a knife, well at least amongst the girls, Ginny loved all things shiny and expensive, and whilst Hermione may not spend as much time thinking about such things, preferring to immerse herself in books and theory, but Slytherin's ring was part of history, and the fact that it was priceless and shiny was merely an added bonus.

Rags opened the second box and the four stared at the ring that had once adorned the finger of one of the Hogwarts Founders. It was similar in size to the Valerian ring, except where the Valerian ring was made out of silver; the Slytherin ring was made out of pure gold, with faint serpentine silver swirls adorning the band. The stone was a large impressive emerald; the green of this emerald was a deep colour that would not look out of place in a forest's greenery. Adorning this precious stone was the coiled silver snake of Slytherin himself, even though it was exactly the same crest that adorned the banners and robes of Slytherin house the crest when shown on this ring, made the sign of the serpent seem more noble, and less dark and conniving.

Rags was looking at this ring far longer than he had looked at the Valerian ring, and Hermione realised that he must have been thinking about all the terrible things that the title of _Slytherin_ had associated with it, especially seeing as Voldemort himself was using the title of _'Heir of Slytherin'_, she was about to say something but Rags said something as she was opening her mouth to speak.

"I accept this ring and the title that goes along with it for two reasons, first and foremost to keep it out of the hands of my _father_, and his ilk. Secondly because if this ring is bound to me by blood, then it would merely pass itself on to my own decedents, if I live long enough to see myself have any" the last part was said in so quiet a whisper that the three other people in the room barely caught it, and each had a different reaction to it.

Hermione was filled with sorrow at the thought that Rags believed that there was a chance that he would not live to see himself with a family of his own, and that probably in some deep dark level of his subconscious, he thought that he didn't deserve one.

Ginny was just moved to extreme pity, coming from such a large family, and from a family that loved its members deeply and truly, the thought that someone, especially _this_ someone thought that they would not live long enough to experience it, especially when the person was only seventeen, moved her close to tears, and she had to restrain herself from launching herself at Rags and hugging him and telling him that it would all be alright.

Harry's reaction was different from all the rest, of course he felt upset that someone could thing like that but he also had a revelation, he himself had experienced similar thoughts many times during his life, especially during the last two years, during the Triwizard Tournament, and during his fifth year when he lost Sirius. He realised that he shared many similarities with Rags, and thought to himself that he should sit down and talk to his Norwegian friend, as they had both suffered so much, and in such a similar way, they each may be able to help each other to deal with their individual pain.

Suddenly each person in the room was brought out of their musings as Rags removed the Slytherin ring from its box, and then decisively slid it onto the index finger of his left hand, like before there was a brilliant flash of white light as the ring re-sized itself to its new owners finger, and then their was silence.

Until a few seconds later when there was a sound like a hundred condensed thunderclaps and a blinding flash of emerald light, which was accompanied by a rather loud "Eeep" from the resident seventeen year old Norwegian Lord, and then silence.

The silence lasted for about a minute until Ginny broke it by saying "Ok now that was a climactic finish" Harry and Hermione grinned at Ginny's rather obvious statement, _'Trust a Weasley to turn something this serious into something humorous'_ thought Harry. It was then that Hermione noticed something different about the room, something that for a moment she wasn't able to place, and then it hit her like a thunderbolt.

"Guys where's Rags?"

--

Elsewhere in another part of the castle there was a flash of emerald light and a short cry, followed by a solid sounding thump, and then silence.

Ragnar Valerian groaned as he came back to his senses, his last memory was of sitting with Harry, Hermione and Ginny in the Room of Requirement, then he put on Slytherin's ring, he groaned again as he realised that the ring itself must have been the reason for his current predicament, and rather sore back. He felt a moderately heavy weight settle down on his chest, a rather warm weight.

He heard a hauntingly beautiful, melodic trill and managed to open one eye and noted the rather impressive Phoenix sitting on his chest. He groaned again and began cursing, rather foully in another language "Stupido maledetto piolo , quello lo , il la prossima volta quello alcuno merda cervello relativo mandare me un pezzo merda antico piolo , Sono contenitore dove si fondono metalli lo discendente e turno lo in presa poich‚ mio spada guaina", this profanity only got worse when said Phoenix looked at him and gave him the Phoenix version of a raised eyebrow, the noble bird obviously in as much confusion to his predicament as he himself was.

"Ah Mr Valerian, I understand that your current predicament may be rather unsettling, but I would ask you not to foul the air with such words, yes I know what you said, I happen to be quite fluent in Italian" Rags' head snapped around, now with both eyes opened he recognised two things about the place he was in, firstly he realised he was laying on the floor of the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, and secondly the man who had spoken was none other than Albus Dumbledore himself, who as usual was sitting behind his desk, his eyes doing their customary twinkle and his face wearing a mix of amusement and bemusement. He like his Phoenix was wondering why this young man had appeared in his office in a flash of emerald light, and hoped that he could use this opportunity to have a much needed chat with the young Valerian.

Rags had the good grace to blush slightly after getting caught swearing in front of the Headmaster, a man whose methods he didn't totally agree with, but gave his support to for the fight that he was trying to win, the fight against the Dark and for the survival of the Light. "Sorry about that sir, but this is the last place I thought that I would end up, that is of course, once I realised that I had been transported somewhere. Also I didn't know that you spoke Italian, it certainly does not mention it on the back of your chocolate frog cards" the last part of his statement was said with a small bit of humour, it was rather well known that while Albus Dumbledore was the greatest light wizard of his age, the only one of his many titles and accolades that he really cared for was that he was on the chocolate frog cards.

Dumbledore returned a smile of his own and motioned to Fawkes with one hand; a hand which the Phoenix flew to, and settled himself upon, therefore allowing the sixth year Gryffindor that was sprawled rather unceremoniously on the floor of the office to rise to his feet. "You are correct Mr Valerian, it is not a well known fact but I do indeed speak many languages, certainly most of the European ones at least."

Rags thought that this was an opportunity to get to know the Headmaster better so he went out on a limb and said "So if I had sworn not in Italian but in Japanese would you have understood me?" he asked with his quirky grin on his face.

Dumbledore actually chuckled and said "No, I seem to have a great deal of difficulty understanding Asian languages, they are similar to elfish, in that they flow along, but I have never been able to grasp them" he saw Rags' grin turn to a smirk that would not have looked out of place on Malfoy, either of them, and said "but something tells me that you have?" he made his statement a question hoping to find out a little bit more about the enigma that was this young man.

Rags actually smiled, properly, not a smirk or a grin, but a proper smile, and then rattled off a long sentence in Japanese, which caused the Headmaster to chuckle slightly, he was just pleased to see how far this young man had come since last year when he had been found and brought to the British Wizarding world.

"Well seeing that you are here now Mr Valerian, why don't you sit down and we can have a little chat" said Dumbledore indicating the chair in front of his desk, "lemon drop?" he asked politely, even though he could name the students who had actually taken one when he offered, there were only three of them, so he was pleasantly surprised when Rags took one of the muggle candies with a 'thank you sir' and settle himself in the comfortable chair.

"Now Mr Valerian why don't you tell me why you suddenly appeared in my office, especially considering the simply spectacular way that you were able to do so" he sat there his eyes twinkling as he regarded the young Gryffindor over the rim of his half moon spectacles.

Rags, feeling that he could trust the Headmaster began to speak, he told him all about what had happened since he had woken up in the Infirmary, including opening his letters, and this grabbed Dumbledore's attention, he completely ignored what Rags said about opening his Gringotts letter, and concentrated on listening to what he said about the letter, that he knew, came from the Wizarding College of Arms. "If it would not be prying of me I would like to ask you what news you received from the College of Arms?" at Rags' incredulous expression he gave a small chuckle "yes I recognised the seals but I wanted you to find out the information and make your decision by yourself, without being influenced by any others."

Rags frowned slightly, it was things like this that he disagreed with the Headmaster over; the Headmaster was a supporter of allowing people to find things out for themselves, providing cryptic clues and hints, that may point them in the right direction, but then again it might also lead them in the complete opposite, so all the leg work was being done by the seeker, whereas a simple answer may have saved time, and in some cases lives.

So Rags took a leaf out of the Headmaster's book and didn't say anything, he just placed his right fist on the table, so that the ring of the Count's of Wolfenspire was staring the Headmaster straight in the face, he then placed his left fist alongside the right, the ring of Slytherin contrasting quite nicely, in his opinion, with the Valerian ring, and waited for the _much_ older man's reaction.

Rags was not disappointed, the Headmaster was surprised at the appearance of the Valerian ring, he knew that Rags must have been a member of that house, as his last name was an exceptionally exclusive one that was rarely found outside of the area of the families ancestral seat. He also knew that the Count's of Wolfenspire were a very old, and very powerful titular family, that wielded a considerable amount of influence in both the magical and muggle worlds all over the globe, but it was the second ring that caused Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the age to openly gawp like a first year learning the levitation charm.

"THAT'S SLYTHERIN'S RING" he bellowed, he noticed with some irony that Rags just smiled at him and let him continue "how did you get that, I thought it would have gone to Tom decades ago, when he was still a student here." The Headmaster took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves, he had handled the revelation that Ragnar Valerian was in fact now Lord Slytherin quite badly, and the slowly expanding smirk on the same young mans face only proved to Dumbledore that he found the situation hilarious.

"Forgive me Mr Valerian, I handled that very badly, as you can see seeing you with that ring, in fact both rings, was quite a shock to this old mans system. I hope that you will indulge me in explaining how you came by them" Dumbledore waited, almost with baited breath, he knew for a fact that with Rags' new status he didn't have to tell him anything about his heritage as it didn't affect his standing within the school in anyway.

"Of course Headmaster, as you know both rings came in the letter form the College of Arms. I am not completely sure why the Slytherin ring came to be, but the letter outlined that I was the last heir of Salazar Slytherin that met all of his conditions for receiving his title, it is my assumption that the title did not pass to my _father_ because he did not meet these conditions, and as a result Slytherin would have found him unworthy to inherit." Dumbledore nodded his head at this, although he was surprised that Tom did not meet Slytherin's requirement to inherit his title, he was not unfamiliar with the procedure, as many prominent wizarding families did the same thing in the present day, especially if they had multiple children and only wanted a certain one of them to inherit the family seat, regardless of that child's birth.

Rags continued when the Headmaster's eyes met his again "As for the Valerian ring the letter stated that it had come to me because I was the eldest male heir of the primeginian line, and as such was the only one that could conceivably inherit the title, which is all well and good seeing as the title will remain in the family, but I have absolutely no idea of what to do with it, or either of them, now that I have the damn thing." He looked at Dumbledore and sighed and said "Any help you could give me on this matter would be immensely helpful Headmaster; I'm at a loss on where to start."

Dumbledore smiled at the young noble sitting in front of him and said "I would be delighted Ragnar", Rags was a little shocked at the Headmaster's use of his first name, but decided to not say anything as the man was still speaking "I would be more than happy to help you in learning your new duties, such as they are, in regard to your new titles, I should be able to get most of the books that should help you in a few weeks, and even the rarer ones that I would need to get from libraries in other parts of Britain, especially those pertaining to the Slytherin title, by the beginning of the Christmas break, how does that sound? Oh and you do realise that both of your titles will be registered with the Ministry of Magic here in Britain, and their might be a bit of media frenzy of the Slytherin one, not to sneer at you Valerian title of course."

Rags' smiled in gratitude and said "Thank you Headmaster it is most appreciated, and again thank you for the tip about the Ministry knowing about my titles, I suppose that they may find out about my _father_ too but I think that it was probably inevitable. Oh the Gringotts letter that I received detailed that I had access to the vaults that went along with my titles." He said that bit about the ministry finding out about his heritage in a resigned sort of way, now that the people closest to him knew his secret and did not judge him; he cared very little for the preconceptions of the wizarding world.

The Headmaster cut him off by saying "I appreciate you telling me this Ragnar, especially what you told me about Gringotts, I know that it is very personal information, and as such I will not ask you to tell me anything about your vaults, how much money that you have, or what artefacts, if any, although I will be surprised if there are none, that you will have in your possession, but please feel free to come to me with any problems that you may have. I agree that your parentage may come out, it may not, but it is likely that it will, but it may also be advantageous to our own war effort."

As the Headmaster stood up to escort him to the door Rags turned to him and offered his hand "Thank you for your help Professor Dumbledore, I know we don't see eye to eye on everything" the pair winced slightly as they remembered the rather vocal debate the two of them had shared before Rags came to Hogwarts about a range of topics, but especially tat which was going on in the war, especially as they were fighting Rags' father. "Also if you like my friends call me Rags, and if we are being informal I would like you to do so as well" the old man shook Rags' hand with a smile and a thank you, as he appreciated the trust the young man was placing within him.

"Finally I've decided to honour your request to have a copy of my memories of my time with my _father_, I'm sorry I didn't agree months ago but I wasn't ready to deal with everything yet, but anything I can do to help in this war I will endeavour my best to do it, now if you'll excuse me I probably have a few friends who are looking for me."

"Thank you Rags" the Headmaster tested out Rags' nickname for the first time "I appreciate how difficult it was for you to allow me to see your memories, I promise I won't abuse the privilege and that I will check with you before allowing anyone else to see them. On that note go and find your friends, and hopefully you won't get into too much trouble from Miss Granger for your impressive disappearing act."

The old man smiled as Rags chuckled to himself as he left the office and went down the stairway to the hall that lead to the main castle, and though to himself _'It's times like these that I truly appreciate the gift I was given at being allowed to be a teacher, to be able to cultivate these young minds, and in the case of that young man see him change from the dark, brooding and lonely youth he was, to the fine person he is today'_, he finished his internal musings with the thought that it was a certain Miss Granger that had caused such a miraculous change in Ragnar Valerian, and Albus Dumbledore could not be happier with it.

In the corridor outside the stairway to the Headmaster's office Rags was scratching his head, he had seen from the clock in Dumbledore's office that he had been there for about an hour, and as such he had no idea where his friends might have gone, after such an impressive disappearing act he was sure that they would have gone looking for him, and as such they could be anywhere in the castle _'May as well check the grounds first' _he thought to himself as he headed to the nearest castle exit.

He didn't notice the pair of malevolent blue eyes that followed him out through the doors, or the shadowy figure that exited soon after.

--

Ginny couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of Hermione running around like a headless chicken almost as soon as Rags had disappeared, she and Harry were no less worried about their large friend, but in a stranger reversal or roles they ere the ones who were trying to approach the problem of finding Rags rationally and logically, although it didn't seem to be helping much, as it had been about an hour and they still hadn't found their missing friend.

"Look you two, we've searched practically every single place we could think of inside the castle, not counting the areas that would take too long to search, I think we either have two choices, we either talk to Professor Dumbledore, or we start again and search the castle from top to bottom." Said Harry, as they finished searching along another deserted corridor, one that looked like it hadn't been used for the last few centuries, indeed the dust coating the walls looked like it was several inches thick.

Hermione nodded her head, she was almost in a blind panic as she was starting to believe that whatever had transported Rags out of the Room of Requirement had most probably taken him off the school grounds somewhere, and she prayed with all her heart, soul and strength that he was safe and not in the clutches of Voldemort or his Death Eaters.

They received quite a shock when they got to Professor Dumbledore's office and he told them the tale of Rags appearing in a flash of light, only to land on his back in the middle of the floor, Ginny couldn't help but smile at the thought that Rags had been caught swearing in front of the Headmaster, even if it was in Italian. This information spurred Hermione to find out exactly how many languages Rags knew, she knew that he could speak more than one, but two was a surprise, and she wouldn't put it past him to know a few more.

Dumbledore told them that he had last seen Rags heading in the direction of the grounds and suggested that the three friends look for him there. They decided that he probably wasn't down near Hagrid's hut as they had seen the half giant in the Library trying to find a book on how to protect a new kind of creature he was getting for Care of Magical Creatures.

They were heading around one of the further greenhouses when they heard what sounded like a rather vocal argument coming from around the other side, they quickened their pace and were surprised to see Rags and Ron practically at each other's throats.

--

Rags had wandered around the school grounds, the chill air making him feel alive and more carefree that he had felt in a long time _'I know the three of them often go on their own little adventures but couldn't they have decided to go on an adventure where it was easy to find?' _he chuckled at the thought and realised if they indeed did that, then they would not be the people that they were today.

He had just gotten near the greenhouses when something felt off, he recognised it as _that _feeling he got when something was going to happen, he whirled around and came face to face with the furious Ronald Weasley.

"Just who the hell do you think you are Valerian, you waltz into our school, you break up my friends, and then you go and help yourself to _my _girlfriend. Its on now, no one messes with a Weasley and gets away with it." Ron snarled at the older man, his hatred, and what he believed was righteous anger, shined from his eyes.

Rags' eyes narrowed, a sure sign to those who knew him that he was pissed, as he looked at the youngest Weasley boy "Weasley why don't you grow some sense, Hermione is not a possession to be taken from anyone, she is a person, and she happens to be the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. Also I didn't break up your friendship with them you did that by yourself with your arrogance and bigheadedness, and your belief that the world should be handed to you on a silver platter, now get the fuck out of my sight before I send you to the hospital wing with some limbs missing" Rags was _really _pissed off, so much in fact that he hadn't realised that Harry, Ginny and Hermione had heard the whole conversation from where they ere standing only a few metres away.

Ron took a step forward snarled in anger and said "You don't get it do you? You Norwegian piece of shit, Harry is my best friend, Ginny is my sister, and she'll side with my on this if she knows what's good for her. As for Hermione, well she is mine she just doesn't know it yet but she will" he grinned darkly as he saw Rags stiffen and thought that he had struck a nerve, what happened next would just prove how wrong, and thick, he really was.

Harry was appalled; this wasn't his friend Ron, the guy that had stood with him for the first three years of Hogwarts without complaint, stuffed up in forth year but came round, than stood by his side last year in the department of mysteries, this was someone that he didn't know, and was at that moment considering hexing.

Ginny was also thinking the same thing, she would be writing a letter home to her parents outlining what Ron had said, maybe they would be able to talk some sense into him before someone beat it into him.

Hermione felt her anger building in her, here was a boy that she had thought of as a brother for the majority of her time at Hogwarts, now he had thrown that relationship away and was just about equal with Draco Malfoy on her books, she was about to step forward and give him a piece of her mind, when she, along with Harry, Ginny and Ron, noticed the change in Rags.

Harry realised that this was the first time since he had met Rags, and since Rags had told him about his parentage, that the older boy had resembled his father. There was very little physically similar between the two, but the expression that was visible on Rags' face was the same that Lord Voldemort wore when he faced Albus Dumbledore in the Ministry of Magic last year, even to Harry who had faced the Dark Lord four times at school, and of course when he was a baby, the expression on Rags' face was terrifying. Such utter hatred had no place on the face of someone who was good and true and loyal to a fault, he knew what Ron had said was inexcusable, and he himself was almost spitting with anger, but it was nothing compared to what Rags was dealing with, and what was strange to Harry was that Hermione seemed to know why Rags was as angry as he was.

Rags didn't hear the gasps of shock from the people near him as his eyes slowly changed from a stormy blue-grey to a bright viridian green, in fact he didn't even realise that his friends were there, all he was concentrating on was the slowly spreading look of fear across the face of one Ronald Weasley.

Ron didn't even get a chance to scream as in a flash Rags was before him and had delivered a devastating uppercut to the youngest Weasley boy's gut causing to double over in pain as all the air he had in his lungs whooshed out, he was hit next with a double handed blow between his shoulders that forced him to crash face first into the ground.

Rags then delivered a crushing punch straight to the centre of Ron's unprotected back, no ordinary punch; his middle finger was extended slightly, making a point. Hermione recognised the strike from her training sessions with Rags; it was a nerve strike, one that would most likely paralyse Ron for a few hours.

They all watched as rags turned over Ron so that the other boy had no other choice but to look up into the frightening viridian gaze of Ragnar Valerian, who spoke in a terrifying whisper that seemed to carry and echo all around them "I didn't remove you from this world Weasley for one very important reason and that's because I have something to say, and I expect you to listen well" he waited for Ron's terrified nod before continuing "I am going to forget that this conversation ever took place so you may consider this your final warning, but if I so much as catch a whisper of you trying anything on Hermione, I swear by all the gods of Asgard, and all the terrors of Nilfheim that I will hunt you down and tear you apart, do you understand me? I care for her more than I have cared for just about anyone on this Earth, so you had better believe me when I say that if you so much as think of hurting her, you're dead, understand?"

At Ron's terrified nod Rags straightened up and looked at Ron with scorn showing from his viridian eyes and said "I don't understand you Weasley, you are jealous of Harry, thinking he has everything money, fame, and all at his young age. But you forget that he had to grow up treated like shit, not knowing what really happened to his parents nor having the advantage of a loving family. You have no idea what that can do to a person, knowing that the only family you have thinks that you are worthless, or a mistake. You have thrown away any chance of friendship with a girl who had been your friend for five years of your life, just because she didn't want to be with you, but were you truly her friend? You argued with her, called her names and belittled her in front of your house, and then cried and whinged because she didn't help you with your homework, you're pathetic. Oh and remember Ginny is an extremely talented witch, and you have to live with her throughout the whole summer, so I'd pray she doesn't hear of our conversation."

As he turned to leave he looked back and said "Oh and if your wondering how I know all of this" and Ron was not the only one wondering what was going on, Harry, Ginny and Hermione were curious too, "I listened, I listened to Gryffindor House, I talked to Hagrid, I even listened to some of the other houses so I know all about you Weasley, so watch yourself." With that said Rags turned and walked towards the lake, not noticing that his friends had not only seen his anger, heard Ron's words, or seen his eyes change.

The others were left standing there for a moment before Hermione snapped to her senses she turned to Harry and Ginny and said "I'm going to go after Rags and see if I can't get him to calm down and talk about what happened. Can you guys get all the stuff out of the Room of Requirement and take it back to Gryffindor Tower?"

It was Harry that replied "Sure Hermione, Ginny and I'll do that, we can meet the two of you in the Great Hall for lunch if you like, but right now I think that I have to have a word with my _former_ best mate" Harry then strode off towards the prone form of Ron.

Ginny looked to Hermione and said "I wonder if Rags could teach me to punch like that, it would be so useful when Fred and George need to be taken down a peg, and I agree with Harry, don't; worry about Rags' stuff we'll get that just as soon as I go and have a little chat with that brother of mine." Hermione watched as the two of them loomed over Ron and was glad that she wasn't Ron's place, Harry and Ginny were quite formidable when they put their minds to it.

Hermione quickly set off in the direction that Rags had gone in hoping to catch up before he had gotten too far, she knew from personal experience that if he didn't really want to be found, then there was very little hope of finding him. Getting closer to the lake she spotted him sitting, in what she knew from their training sessions together to be the Lotus Position, he was meditating.

Rags was trying to get his thoughts in order, his confrontation with Weasley had left him feeling strange, similar to how he felt when he had confronted Malfoy, but not quite as strong, he thought that this was strange seeing as he hadn't used _Umbra Intentus_ when he had squared off against Ron, as it was after the last time he had used The Shading Run that he had felt a little strange. He glanced down at the rings glittering on his fingers and wondered if this strange new development was because he had reached his magical maturity, as all wizards do, at the age of seventeen, and seeing as he had the blood of two extremely ancient and noble houses running through his veins, he wondered to himself what kind of powers might be locked away within his very blood. He sighed quietly to himself and leaned back against the tree he was sitting near _'So much for trying to forget my past and, as Professor Dumbledore put it "Make a fresh start at Hogwarts, meet new people and make lasting friendships" and what happens? My past is linked with my future; I wish I had someone to turn to." _

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a leather wallet looking thing, he flipped it open and smiled sadly at the two photos that were sitting inside in clear sleaves made from a wizarding version of plastic, there were others in there too, you browsed through them by flicking them up like a book, since he had gotten the wallet for his birthday. The pain at seeing these pictures had lessened a bit since he had first seen them on his birthday, but he doubted that it would ever go away.

He was shaken out of his melancholy thoughts as he felt someone sit down beside him, and he quickly tucked the photo-wallet into his pocket, he looked up a little startled straight into the concerned eyes of Hermione Granger, it was strange, he thought, that he thought her first action would be to berate him for not immediately coming back to the Room of Requirement after his most impressive disappearing act. Instead she seemed concerned about something, and Rags wondered what it was, he wondered what new development had occurred in the hour that they had been apart.

Hermione did something then that surprised Rags like nothing else, although he wasn't really complaining, she reached forward and cupped his face with both her hand, the leaned forward and kissed him full on the lips. Although Rags was surprised at first he soon responded, it didn't take long for the kiss to progress to a snogging session with Rags leaning back against the tree, his arms around Hermione's waist, and her sitting in his lap with her own arms looped round his neck, both of them kissing passionately.

This had not been how Hermione had wanted to begin her conversation with Rags but found that it was indeed a worthy substitute, after the kiss finished, leaving both teens slightly breathless Hermione leaned in and rested her head against Rags' forehead as he said "Not that I am complaining Hermione but what did I do to deserve that?"

He may not have shown it but Hermione only had to look into his eyes to see the humour dancing in them, she smiled and gave him another quick peck on the lips and said "Well if you _must_ have a reason" and couldn't help but grin at his slight smirk "there are two really, firstly for being who you are kind, generous, caring, strong and loyal." She noted the slight blush on his cheeks and continued before he could refute what she ahd said, as he was want to do in situations like this. "Secondly, for what you said to Ronald" she noticed him stiffen in shock at that, and just held him tighter in case he got any ideas about trying to leave again.

Rags sighed quietly at what Hermione said, he didn't quite agree with all the praise that she heaped on him, but he wouldn't deny that it was nice for someone to say it to him, coming from his background he didn't think that he deserved any sort of special accolade, but he got a strange warm feeling inside of him when someone said it to him, especial when it was someone that he cared about, especially when that someone was his girlfriend.

"You heard that did you?" he asked quietly, refusing to meet her gaze, he hated it when she saw the darker aspects of himself, and if he was being honest with himself there was a part of him that almost enjoyed what he did to Ron, letting the anger loose felt good, it was seductive, and he tried his hardest to force it deeper down and bury it under his memories and things that eh didn't want to think about.

"Yes" Hermione stated simply "and Harry, Ginny and I want you to know that we agree with everything that you said to Ron back there, he was not only way out of line, but he has, at least a far as Harry and I are concerned thrown away any last remaining shred of his friendship with us, and even though he is her brother, Ginny is going to limit as much contact as she can between her and Ron. But there is something that I want to ask you, if I may?"

Rags nodded his head wondering what Hermione wanted to ask him, that judging from her facial expression, was something that she felt was extremely important.

"Rags what I want to ask you is about what you said to Ron before you left him, about how much you said that you care for me, is that how you truly feel? Or was it just in the heat of the moment?" Hermione hated to ask but she had to know, she had to.

Rags wouldn't meet her eyes and he shifted his head so that it was nestled in against her neck, and Hermione was about to cry. After hearing what Rags had said to Ron, something in her had soared at the prospect that someone could care about her like that, it had filled a void that she had refused to admit that she had after seeing Harry with Cho, and after with Ginny, and all the other students at Hogwarts that had found a partner, it hurt that for so long she ahd been overlooked, to be fair she had not done a lot to encourage attention, but it still hurt. Then in her now mot serious relationship of her life, she finds that the affections of her boyfriend may have only been said in the heat of the moment, and she was scared that he had, perhaps, not even meant it at all.

She was cut off though, in mid thought, as both her heart and her soul to a leap for the heavens when she heard Rags whisper "Yes, they were true, its…its how I feel deep in my soul" he seemed to hesitate a moment before he continues by saying "I have known you for less than two months, yet I have never been so sure of anything in my life, and it scares me."

Any further conversation, at least on his part, was cut off as Hermione pulled him in for a searing kiss. Once it had ended and both of them had caught their breath enough for them to have a fluent conversation Hermione said "You don't need to be scared of those feelings Rags", she reached up and cupped his cheek lightly cupped his cheek with her hand, gently running her thumb over the end of the scar over his eye. "I feel the same way, I know that things may seem rushed and progressing too fast but I think that to deny these feelings would be wrong, but I want you to know that I do care for you as you care for me."

It was then Hermione's turn to be cut of as Rags captured her lips with a passionate kiss of his own, which showed her almost as much as his heartfelt words had his true feelings for her. The tears that followed this kiss were not from sorrow but rather from such joy that it could not be expressed in any other way.

Rags had once again nestled his face again against Hermione's neck so that she would not see the tears that had gathered in his own eyes, he could not remember the last time that someone had told him that hey had cared for him, it was a strange feeling, but a _very_ good feeling.

The embrace was something that both of them had needed, for it allowed the both of them to collect their thoughts and think about what was said. It was during this time that Hermione gave a slight shiver, for it was only now that the heat and the passion of the moment had left that she was sitting out in the cold weather in nothing more than a thin t-shirt.

Rags noticed the shiver and said "Your cold, here take this" he quickly lifted her arms from around his neck and held them above their heads, then in a quick fluid move he slipped the long sleeved shirt from over his own head, turned it so that it sat the right way and then pulled it down over Hermione's outstretched arms, and then further down so that it covered her torso completely "There" he said "that's better isn't it?"

Hermione snuggled back down into Rags' warm embrace, the blue long sleeved shirt that he had pulled over her, warming her up very nicely, it was things like this that made her feel so strongly for Rags, it was ability that after he had been a part of so much pain and suffering in his life he was able to perform such simple and pure acts of kindness, also the fact that it was warm _because_ of him was very nice. Glancing down at the muscled right arm, now only clad in a thin white under t-shirt she noticed something that she, and just about everyone who knew Rags, had not noticed before.

"Rags why you have a TATTOO?" she screeched, looking at the impressive design imprinted on the bulging bicep muscle, doing a more than fair imitation of a pair of female Weasley's in full fury, so in short she yelled extremely loud next to Rags' ear.

After a rather painful wince Rags managed to answer Hermione's question "I don't have a tattoo, or eardrums for that matter" Hermione blushed slightly at that, she did scream rather loudly, she thought to herself, but Rags' peck on the lips got her attention again. "Well at least I don't think it's a tattoo, the mark itself began to appear the day that Aesir hatched for me, and as such I inferred that it appeared as a direct result of the two of us bonding" He then grinned at Hermione who was gently stroking the falcon figure with her fingertips "I suspect that you, Harry and Ginny will get similar marks when your own eggs hatch."

This little titbit of information was stored away in Hermione's brain for later examination, and consideration, but right now she was interested only in cuddling, she shifted her position so that she was still sitting in Rags' lap but with her back to him and his arms looped around her waist. This provided them each with a great deal of comfort and warmth, from Hermione's perspective she was held close by someone that she cared very deeply for, wrapped up in a warm sense of being cared for that was difficult to come by when you were single, also the powerfully muscled arms around her gave her a sense of feeling and security that she hadn't really felt before, it was strange and unique, but at the same time comforting.

For Rags it was a very similar feeling, being held by someone and holding someone that cared for him provided feelings of both comfort and security, plus having a beautiful girl sitting on his lap felt wonderful, it also allowed him to use Hermione's hair as a pillow. Hermione had often complained about her hair when he was around, and he knew from conversations with the rest of his friends about their previous years at Hogwarts that she was not fond of her bushy hair.

Rags however loved it, it was soft and warm with a faint smell of the shampoo that she had used in its washing, and to be completely fair to Hermione, even though she still saw herself as the bushy haired bucktoothed little girl that had arrived at Hogwarts five years ago, she no longer had buckteeth, or bushy hair, the teeth problem having been solved thanks to an altercation with Draco Malfoy, and over the years her hair had become wavy and slightly curly, no longer bushy. But it still made an excellent pillow for her boyfriend, and it wasn't long before Rags was dozing, more at peace at this moment than at almost any other in his life.

Hermione held Rags hands at her waist and looked at the two rings on his fingers that glinted faintly in the October sunlight, _'I wonder what these will bring? If they will cause him joy or pain, or maybe even be able to bring him some peace'_ she wondered to herself, but she soon stopped thinking such things and just enjoyed the moment.

But like all things this too came to an end, she was also loath to wake him, even though a doze was not sleeping, because she knew how little he actually slept Hermione gently shook Rags' hands and she heard a muffled sound coming from behind her, she smirked slightly, Rags had been using her hair as a pillow, and at that particular function it excelled, but when one tried to talk through it the results were less then spectacular.

"Come on Rags you can't sleep the day away its nearly lunch time and I'm getting hungry" at Rags' slightly petulant look at being woken up and forced to get up from what was a very comfortable position to be in, she smiled and playfully said "don't you want to know what Harry and Ginny did to Ron after we left."

That little gem perked the big Norwegian right up, so the pair slowly walked up to Hogwarts with their arms around each other, and a smile on their faces, talking about many things ranging from books, ie Hermione recommending books that Rags should read, and interesting conversation on the merits of the different text books that each of the school disciplines relied on, and if there were any in the library that were better suited to the task.

All in all from both of their perspectives, it had been a truly great day, with more than one surprise thrown in for good measure, but then again they were at Hogwarts, and it wouldn't be a usual day at the Wizarding School if a little excitement and mystery didn't come along.

When she had offered to help Rags up from his seated position she noticed that he had stuffed something into his trouser pocket, it was the same leather wallet looking thing that she had seen him given on his birthday, but had never confronted or asked him about, now seemed as good a time as any.

"Rags?" when she had drawn his attention away from smiling at a bunch of first years chasing each other through the grounds she asked her question "I noticed your wallet" she stopped with him, as he had halted his steps as soon as the question had passed Hermione's lips. "I saw the little house elf give it to you on your birthday, and your reaction to it, and I was wondering what it was?"

At the look he was giving her she quickly continued by saying "I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry, I just saw how deeply affected you were by what was in it, and I just wanted you to know that if you needed anything I'm here for you."

She then found herself in yet another hug for the day, with Rags burying his face in her hair, she also heard his whispered "Thank you" so she just hugged him back and waited for him to continue.

Hermione nearly missed Rags nod his head before, once again with his am around her, he lead her towards the paved courtyard near the Entrance Hall, the pair sat down on a bench and both were thankful that there were not many of their fellow students around, they had the cooler weather to thank for that, as a majority of the students were in their common rooms, only those who wanted a true sense of privacy or were not bothered by he cooler weather.

Rags held Hermione's hand in his left one and pulled out the wallet with his right, he handed it over then clasped both his hands in front of him and waited for her to open the wallet in front of her.

With the thing in her hands Hermione knew immediately what it was it was a photo wallet, she opened it tentatively and started slightly as the first photo met her eyes it was a picture of a young Rags and a young Freya with their arms slung about each others shoulders smiling at who ever was taking the photo, which she thought was strange seeing as he was older than when she had first seen him in his memories, so the photo must have been taken while he and his sister were in captivity.

Seeing her confused expression Rags smiled sadly and said "You are wondering when the photo was taken correct?" at Hermione's nod Rags continued "House elves have a unique and strange ability, they are able to go back and review anything that they have seen or heard throughout their entire lives, rather like a pensive, except they do this in their won minds. They then can use this ability to call forth a scene of anything that they have seen, and then it is a simple matter of extracting the picture and transferring it to a flat surface, in this case photo paper. So yes this was a scene that Dizzy saw, there are a few more pictures from her in there, as well as some that she took from my own memory, and my sisters, although I am sure she did this while we were asleep as I have no recollection of the event."

Hermione quickly shut the wallet and offered it back to Rags and said "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried like that, these are your most private memories, and I had no right to ask to see them as I did." She couldn't meet his eyes as she thought that he would be upset with them.

Hermione would never be able to describe how shocked she was when she felt Rags large hand cover hers and press the wallet down, locking it and her hand together with his own larger one, but this was nothing compared to what he would say.

"That may be so but I want you to see them, believe me there is nothing in those photos more unsettling than what you saw in my head. Also it may help having someone else see them, I don't want the others to see them just yet, but I'd like you go over them with you if that's ok?" it was his turn to not meet her eyes, he hated showing any form of weakness, and in his eyes asking someone for help. Especially on a matter this personal, was a sign of weakness. He also didn't understand why his emotions and feelings were so close to his surface thoughts, he could not bury them as he was used to, and he was unsure what to do.

Hermione, ignorant of Rags' thoughts gave his hand a squeeze and opened the wallet again flipping past what she had already seen she saw more and more pictures of Rags and his sister as they grew up. Some made her smile, like one of Rags completely covered in mud looking quite surprised. There was one with Freya cuddling Dizzy that brought a tear to her eye but made her smile, there were a few others that were obviously taken from Rags' own perspective, and some even from his sisters. Like one with the elf Dizzy doing a rather impressive lotus position on Rags' head.

The final photo in the sleeves was one that shocked Hermione to the core; it was a photo, one obviously taken from Dizzy the house elf's point of view, and what surprised her even more was the fact that she had seen the memory from which this scene was taken in her trip into Rags' past. There was Rags silky black robes flowing around him his sword Matsuro held upright, the hilt about level with his midsection and the blade lowing alongside his right cheek in the classic Kuro-Uindo first strike stance, the stance from which any attack can be started. He was turned slightly so that his back was turned slightly to the viewer, and standing the shadow of Rags' powerful frame was his sister, there stood Freya Valerian in grey work robes bold and beautiful a captured wand in either hand, her fierce gaze matching her brother's except looking at anyone foolish enough to approach them from behind.

It was quite simply a stunning picture, each sibling a different side of the same coin, one an ethereal beauty of pale perfection, the other dark, commanding foreboding and yet protective and powerful each face betraying neither fear nor panic, but only a fierce sense of determination, as though nothing could stop them. Hermione's thoughts on the photo were interrupted by Rags' speaking.

"That is always the hardest photo to look at, on my birthday when you saw me in such distress this was the photo that I opened the wallet to, so as you can probably imagine, I was a little surprised and of course all the old wounds opened again." Hermione didn't know what to say so she just nodded her head, she had no idea hat it must have felt like to carry round a reminder of something that was so terrible, but then again, she supposed, these were the only visual memories that he had of his little sister.

The final picture was not in plastic sleeve, it was tucked behind them, and from its appearance it did not come with the rest of the wallet, it was crumpled slightly as though it had been looked at many times, constantly pulled form pockets or other places, and it was a photo of a witch, a witch that Hermione knew immediately, Brunehild Valerian, Rags' mother.

She whirled to face her boyfriend a shocked look on her face, of all the photo's that she had been expecting to see in this wallet, one of the woman who refused to acknowledge his existence, insulted him and was downright cruel to him was nowhere even near to being on the list.

"Rags….why?" she struggled to get the words out so great was her shock, she could hardly believe what was in front of her own eyes, but she brought her attention back to Rags the minute he opened his mouth to answer her question.

Rags took the picture from her limp fingers and gazed at it sadly, the photo depicted Brunehild at approximately age twenty, her face lit up with happiness and a large smile adorned her features. "I took this photo from a frame in my mothers house many years ago" he said his voice deeper than usual as though he was thinking very carefully about what he said, or was contending with a great deal of emotional stress associated with the photo, knowing Rags it was probably both Hermione thought.

"When I think back on that time I can remember the very instant that I took it, and the reasons behind it" he turned slightly and gave Hermione a sad smile that shook her o the core, but he continued nevertheless "I took it because I wanted to see my mother smile, she would never smile at me, always sneer, or snap. It's quite pathetic now that I think back on it, but I used to pretend that this photo was actually her, and that she was smiling at me, and the photo had just captured the moment."

He tailed off for a moment before continuing in that same deep sad voice "Does that sound as silly to you as it does to me?" he asked Hermione, not realising the deep look of pain she as giving him so he was somewhat surprised when she leant forward and hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

"No far from it" she whispered, today was certainly turning out to be one of her most emotionally straining days at Hogwarts, and that was saying something. "But it is sad that you have to be the one to deal with these troubles" she couldn't say anything else, so great was her emotion.

Rags pulled her tight against him, and rubbed soothing circles on her back trying to calm her down, he kissed the top her said "I know" he tilted her head up so she was looking at him and he said "but enough of this, it was you who said that we should enjoy this day, I promise you that we can discuss anything that you want, but not today alright? Today is for us to enjoy, even if I vanish when ever I put on jewellery."

That got the desired effect of drawing a laugh out of Hermione, she smiled even through her tears and leant forward and kissed his cheek. She leant back and said "You're right, now come on lets get some lunch, not many people got a chance to say 'welcome back' at breakfast and I shouldn't be monopolising your time like this."

Hermione wasn't one to gloat but when she heard him mutter to himself _'I don't mind if you monopolise my time'_ she had a very self satisfied smirk on her face, which broadened into a smile as she heard all the people talking about Rags' 'tattoo', by the morning the Hogwarts rumour mill will be working over time again.

She wrapped her hand around his, and was happy to see that this simple gesture brought a smile to Rags' scarred face. "While we walk there are some things that I would like to talk to you about."

Rags sighed in fake exasperation and said "This means that you have questions" at Hermione's sheepish grin he said "very well ask away" the words were serious but the tone was filled with affectionate humour.

"Well I was wondering how many languages you speak, I already know that you can speak English and Norwegian, and the Headmaster commented that you spoke both Italian and Japanese in his office, are there any more?" she looked him in the eyes as she asked her question, this was much more in line with her own interests, although the lessons that she had received from her boyfriend were certainly useful and interesting, and should be started again she thought privately, she was more interested in knowledge than in violence.

Rags nodded his head "Yes there are more, twenty years on one place allows you to pick up some things in total I speak nine languages" at her shocked look he grinned "finding out I practice an obscure form of Dark Wizard swordplay didn't phase you much, but the fact that I can speak nine languages does?"

That earned him a smack on the arm and a 'Don't be a prat', before Hermione turned and said "I know of four but what are the others?"

Rags grinned and said "Well I speak fluent English, Norwegian, French, Japanese Italian, Latin which are very similar by the way and Goblin, and I am conversant in Bulgarian and Russian. Goldfish Hermione" the last part of his statement was said because Hermione had once again done a goldfish impression, something that she had tried to avoid doing at all cost, it was uncouth after all.

"Rags! Why on earth were you forced to learn so many languages? Don't get me wrong I think the idea of speaking different languages is brilliant, but why would your father", she didn't name him as there were other people around, "need you to know so many?"

Rags sighed and pulled her off to the side away from prying eyes and ears and said "It's all to do with Harry; I was supposed to be sent against Harry to weaken him enough for my father to finish off, but before that I was to have other missions, other tasks to perform. You may not know this but the Death Eaters come from all across the globe, and the Dark Mark may be an exceptionally powerful and useful way to summon them to his side, but Voldemort would need an agent to got and deliver his instructions to his international followers, also if my ability to understand their native language was kept a secret then I would be able to effectively spy on their most important meetings, listen for any betrayals. Oh and I learned Goblin because my sword master only spoke Goblin and Japanese so it was learn either of them, or be punished for not understanding him."

It was then that Voldemort's plans for his son came into full scope for Hermione and she squeezed Rags' hand in sympathy, which she hadn't released since they had gotten up from the bench in the courtyard, _'It must be horrible to think that your only purpose in life is to be the slave of an evil megalomaniac, and to know that the person you would have been sent to try to kill is now one of your closest friends' _she thought to herself.

"Rags that's terrible, I can't say this enough but I am sorry that you had to go through all of that" she squeezed his hand again and after a moment smiled a small flirtatious smile and said "but lets put that behind us today, and will you please answer one more teensy little question for me?"

Rags mock-sighed again and said "Well if it's for you, I suppose I could. But what's in it for me? Nothing in this life is for free Hermione, you should know that."

Hermione just smiled that little flirtatious smile again and winked at him, she had no idea that she herself could tease someone like this, but if the look in Rags' eyes was anything to go on she would to this to him more often.

"Well" she said going back to being serious "I wondered why you never told us that your eyes change colour when you access your magical core?"

Rags' eyes widened in shock "My eyes do what?" he exclaimed, his voice was so loud that it reverberated around the alcove like room that he and Hermione were standing in.

Little did the pair of them know but there was someone else who had heard their entire conversation up to this point, for after all Harry Potter was not the only one to have made use of the secret passages and pathways of Hogwarts, indeed this mysterious person, hell bent on revenge, had been taught by the best since the Marauders.

This person had listened carefully to the whole conversation and had pieced together enough information to get an accurate idea of the overall discussion, so with a sinister smirk lingering on their faces, they moved away from their peep hole, and with a swirl of Gryffindor robes and red hair, they moved off up the passage to report on this latest development to their ally.

A/N: Jesus, Mary and Joseph that was a long freaking chapter, hope you enjoyed it. Oh and thank you to all that reviewed, and those who left constructive comments they are greatly appreciated, I'm trying my bets to improve my writing style, but it is an ongoing process.

Oh and there are two parts in this chapter that need to be translated, just so everybody is clear, I am neither a native Norwegian nor Italian speaker and the text provided is from an online translator. The Norwegian bit says _"Fuck me that can't be right"_ and the Italian is_ "Stupid fucking ring, that's it, the next time that some shit brained relative sends me a piece shit antique ring, I am melting it down and turning it into clasps for my sword sheath"_.

Also and for those of you who want to get an accurate idea of what a Wolfen looks like, try to imagine a traditional Werewolf, not the one from the third movie, looked a bit like a Rat to me, more like something out of Underworld or Van-Helsing please Read and Review Cheers TBK


	14. The Realm of Orpheus

After having a quite lengthy discussion about Rags' change in eye colour, Hermione and Rags decided that if they could not find anything about the phenomenon in the library that Rags should ask Professor Dumbledore when he dropped off his memories for the Headmaster to review.

Rags and Hermione entered the Great Hall and met up with Hermione and Ginny who told the other two that they had left Ron in the Room of Requirement to cool off, and to experience Ginny's rather expertly cast Bat Bogey Hex. However it was during lunch where the whole of Gryffindor, most of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and even two or three Slytherin's, mainly girls, welcomed Rags back. Rags smiled throughout the whole affair, taking it all with good humour and maturity, even all the giggling girls who wanted to look at his 'tattoo' and just 'had' to touch it, and the muscled arm that it was attached too of course.

This lead to Hermione's gradually rising temper, she wasn't impressed with all these girls that were pawing at her boyfriend, she wasn't annoyed at him, she had been at first but after he had diffused some of the more forward girls with a small smile and polite conversation, she couldn't blame him, _he _was behaving himself.

That didn't mean that she had to like it, especially when someone that she didn't have a lot of time for ran her hands over the mark, including the powerful muscles on either side, Cho Chang was not Hermione's favourite person at the moment, she hadn't been really keen on the girl since her friend Marietta Edgecombe had betrayed the DA to Umbridge the previous year.

And now that same Cho Chang who brought that traitor to the DA was flirting rather shamelessly with _her _boyfriend, thrusting out her, in all honesty, decent sized chest and twirling a strand of her raven colored hair with one hand. Hermione was about to get up from her seat and say something, that would probably end up with the rest of Hogwarts seeing a catfight in the Great Hall.

Just as she was rising she felt a hand on her arm, glancing to her left she saw the slightly smiling face of Ginny Weasley who pulled her down and said "Don't worry, look at his body language, he is being friendly but giving her no opportunity to take her flirtation any further, all that's happening is that she is beginning to look like a slag in front of the whole school. Also Harry's sitting next to him, he won't let anything happen."

After the comforting words of her friend Hermione relaxed slightly and managed to see the amusement in the situation. Her amusement only grew when he saw how frustrated Cho was becoming with Rags completely ignoring what she was offering.

"You would think that she would get the idea, I mean what does he have to do? Walk around with a sign saying he is taken?" Hermione asked Ginny, who smirked in return.

"Welcome to my world Hermione, not a day goes by without some little strumpet coming along to try to take Harry away from me. Sometimes I'm scared that one of them will succeed, you won't believe the amount of consoling that I needed when Cho tired to get back with Harry at the beginning of the year, but you will realise something as I did, Harry isn't like that and I believe that Rags isn't like that either." Ginny smiled and motioned Hermione closer and said so that only they could hear "He cares too much about you, anyone can see that, well anyone who isn't trying to get his clothes off."

Both of them had a laugh at that, a laugh that only got stronger when Cho stalked off back to the Ravenclaw table, her plan unfulfilled, she sat herself down next to her best friend, Marietta, who still had very faint acne on her face that spelled out SNEAK, in little scars, for all to see.

Rags then looked across the table and smiled at Hermione, she met his gaze and raised one eyebrow indicating that she wondered what he thought of the whole situation. He just rolled his eyes and grinned slightly, causing them both to chuckle, it was quite funny to the two of them that someone would try to split them up, especially considering the conversation that they had just had about how they felt about one another.

Even some of the teachers had come over and chatted to Rags, welcoming him back to 'the land of the living' as Professor Flitwick had jokingly put it, earning a few snickers from the surrounding Gryffindor's, the part-goblin may be the head of Ravenclaw House, but the Gryffindor's had sort of adopted him, as they had all realized that the easy going Charms Professor's door was always open for those who need someone to talk to as in all honesty McGonagall was bloody scary.

After an enjoyable lunch the two couples left the Great Hall to return to the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry with his arm around Ginny happily chatting about Quidditch, and more importantly the first Quidditch game of the season Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, following the Quidditch happy couple was Rags and Hermione hand in hand who were not talking about the wizarding worlds favorite sport, but rather the Charms work that Rags had missed while he was in the Hospital Wing.

--

Almost a week had past since the morning that Rags had woken up, and the same young man had found his usually manageable daily schedule thrown completely for a loop as he tried to juggle his usual lessons, additional lessons with his professors to make up for the work that he had missed while he was unconscious.

He was also trying to fit in flying practice with Harry, who was determined to make him the best Beater that he possibly could, so he could make his debut against Slytherin with as much confidence as possible, he was also trying to find the time to relax with Hermione, who, due to the importance that she placed on studying, understood that his schedule, at least for the next few weeks, would be quite hectic.

But even with all of these things going on, he kept disappearing at night for some reason; he would often relax during the evenings with his friends and girlfriend but once they drifted off to bed, often when the clock was approaching midnight, he would head off somewhere else, but would be waiting for them in the Common Room as usual when they woke up and made their way down to breakfast.

It was this little disappearing act that had gotten Hermione curious, but whenever she mentioned it to him he always said 'It's a surprise' or 'You'll find out soon enough', or the most infuriating 'Don't worry about it' it infuriated her, not to the extent that she was angry with him, but to the extent that she told Ginny about it, and the red head dropped a bombshell during that conversation.

"Well of course it's a surprise, he wouldn't keep on disappearing and not tell you about it would he, if it wasn't?" Hermione looked at her friend in shock before managing to ask.

"You know where he is going don't you?" at the ever so _slight_ smug look on the other girl's face Hermione had her answer. "Why you little traitor" she said with no small amount of humor in her voice "you knew all along, knew how much it annoyed me and you didn't tell me."

Ginny just laughed a Hermione "Well" she said "it was extremely funny watching you get all hot and bothered about it, but don't worry its nothing sinister or strange; although I have a vague idea what he is doing I have no idea as to the specifics."

Seeing her friend relax a little she said "Well now on to more important things, while the boys are down on the Quidditch pitch I want to know what your wearing down to Hogsmeade tomorrow."

Hermione looked at her friend in slight confusion "What do you mean 'What will I be wearing?' I'll probably go down in a t-shirt with a jumper, nice warm coat and jeans" seeing the slightly calculating look in the redhead's eye she asked slightly cautiously "What are you planning?"

Ginny smirked a little and said "Well you could go like that, or you could go in something a little bit more….ah how can I put this delicately, _girly_?"

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms and said "I am a girl thank you very much, and I'm sure that Rags knows this too."

Ginny snorted at her friend's affronted behavior "Oh I'm sure he knows it would be rather disturbing if he had been thinking that he had been snogging a guy for the last week." Hermione and Ginny, even though it was the latter's thought, found that situation rather disturbing.

"No what I mean is, well the guy is obviously completely under your thumb, why not dress in something to really get his attention. As Fleur would say _'get his blood boiling'_ it's just a thought though, you don't have to do anything about it." But judging from the small smile and the thoughtful expression on Hermione's face, the older girl was seriously considering what Ginny had said, and this made the redhead smirk slightly, Rags wouldn't know what hit him, and there was no reason that she couldn't have a little fun and dress up a little to impress Harry, just for Hermione's moral support of course.

--

At the same moment Hermione and Ginny were planning their clothing, and subsequent day in Hogsmeade for tomorrow, Rags and Harry were making their way up from the Quidditch pitch back towards the comforting, and thankfully warm, lights of Hogwarts. Harry had stepped up the Quidditch Team practices to try to get in as much practice as they possibly could in an effort to go out and completely destroy Slytherin in their upcoming match, but he had been going out with Rags quite regularly in an effort to bolster his confidence and skill on a broom, at the time of the Quidditch trials he had been average, now he was good, still needed work, but good nonetheless.

"So what did Dumbledore have to say about your eye color change thing?" Harry asked as the two Gryffindor's walked through Hogwarts grounds, taking the quickest way back to the castle, the days were getting cooler and the nights were not overly pleasant when you had spent the last hour sweating yourself stupid.

Rags snorted in amusement "Eye color change thing? Very eloquent Harry, you'd think that by spending the better part of the last five and-a-bit years as the best friend of the smartest witch in centuries your vocabulary would be better."

Harry glared at his fiend and said "Ha, ha, Rags excuse me while I stitch myself up. If you have something better to call it then by all means tell me so that I can 'expand my vocabulary' as you put it, but seriously what did the Headmaster say?"

Rags sighed hefted his broom onto his shoulder and ran his other hand through his long hair, he glanced at Harry and said "He didn't say much, except that he thinks it is linked to my emotions somehow, and that when it happens any magic that I do should be strengthened far beyond what any normal spell should be, although he was adamant that with age and control I should able to do it at will whereas right now I don't even have a clue as to when I'm using it, except it seems to happen when I'm pissed off at something, or someone."

Harry nodded his head "Well I guess you just have to trust Dumbledore on this, I mean yes the man is completely off his rocker, just look at his robes. But when it comes to magic the old coot knows what he is on about. I wonder if the eye thing happens to everyone, or just certain people?"

Rags replied by saying "Dumbledore said it depends of many different contributing factors, family history, if there is a specific ability or 'power' passed through either of your family bloodlines, even the size of your magical core. So I'm not sure, as long as it works when I need it I'm not really all that bothered about the mechanics of the thing."

About two seconds later any passer by would have seen the two friends laughing at the unintentional double entendre, neither of them could understand why the situation was so funny, not that they really cared either way, it just felt good to laugh about something that was silly, something that guys their age should be laughing about.

The two friends were still chuckling and joking by the time they entered the Gryffindor Common Room, and in typical adolescent male fashion they were completely oblivious to some of the reactions of the female Gryffindor's had at their appearance.

They were as opposite as night and day; Harry was no longer the scrawny almost emaciated little boy that had showed up at Hogwarts in his first year, now he was taller stronger and faster. He was no muscle bound monstrosity, as most of the girls that had taken notice of him, much to Ginny's annoyance, noted his appearance to that of something lean, like a stalking great cat or a running greyhound, his muscles lean built for speed rather than strength. Combined with his shock of black hair, piercing green eyes and you had a potent mix for female hormonal pleasure.

Rags was almost the exact opposite he resembled his Viking ancestors in an uncanny way, his piercing stormy eyes, long blonde hair, his tall broad stature and most obviously to the girls of Gryffindor, his bulging muscles. The way he walked in was signaling, unconsciously, to the amassed Gryffindor's that no matter what stepping in his way, it would be beaten into submission before it had a chance to blink, but he, like Harry, had his own kind of grace about him. In short his current appearance screamed tattooed hunk to all and sundry, much to Hermione irritation, even if she was enjoying the view, but then again she was _allowed _to.

Combined with the pair's good looks and sweat soaked shirts, the two of them were the object of almost all the Gryffindor girls eyes, much to the ire of the Gryffindor guys, who were not fond of the competition even if the two Quidditch players were taken already.

Giving their girlfriends a quick kiss on the cheek, both had been quite adamant that neither of the two men were allowed to kiss them properly, let alone hug them, while they were so sweaty and according to Hermione, 'disgusting'.

After excusing themselves to go get a quick shower and change into something more comfortable, and more suitable for dinner and a relaxing evening of homework, back breaking study and of course tedious textual reading in the Gryffindor Common Room.

Funnily enough it was Ginny who noticed all the longing looks her boyfriend and friend were getting, slowly mischievous smile crossed her face and she tugged on Hermione's arm to get her attention.

"Hey Hermione, would you be interested in aiding me in an endeavor that involves those gorgeous hunks that just wandered past, no shirts, and most of the girls in Gryffindor being shown what they _cannot _have?"

Hermione looked confuse for a moment before a small smirk crossed her own features before she said "I'm all ears, what did you have planned?"

--

About fifteen minutes later Harry came down the stairs that lead to the boys dorms, Rags following a few minutes later, Harry flopped down on the large seat, effectively sitting on Ginny's lap earning him a swat on the head and an annoyed _"Oi"_ from his girlfriend.

Thankfully for Hermione Rags was more restrained, he _didn't_ flop down on top of her, something that she was very grateful for, no one would be able to call Rags fat but seeing as he was so well built and strong his muscles made him rather…heavy to put it delicately, and Hermione had no interest in having her boyfriend drop on her from a standing start.

She did however smile when he sat down next to her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, he was still getting used to showing affection in public, but she had at least gotten him to hug and hold her hand when other students were around, she knew that it wasn't because he was embarrassed to be with her, it was because of his childhood and that he was naturally a very private person.

Glancing at the book in his hand she noticed that he was reading up on his Charms work, Professor Flitwick had set them a rather interesting assignment; they were to try to combine two basic Charms into one spell that would allow them to be used at the same time, the diminutive teacher had allowed them until after the Christmas holiday to try to get the incantation, spell work and wand movements right.

It was an interesting assignment as you didn't need to successfully complete a joined spell to receive an O; you had to write a journal including your research and what you were trying to do, Hermione was glad that Rags was making a head start on the work, for two reasons, it meant that he was taking an interest in his schooling and not just bunking off whenever he felt like it, and secondly it meant that she was not the only one who had begun the assignment, so she had someone to study with.

The friendly silence was broken when the four heard a tapping on the window of the Common Room, where a rather impressive post owl was sitting on the sill giving the group a look that quite effectively said _'Get off your collective arse and let me in'_.

It was Ginny, who in an impressive display of strength, dumped Harry onto the Common Room floor, drawing quite a few snickers from Rags and Hermione, as well as the rest of the Gryffindor's in the room, most notably Neville, Dean and Seamus, who went and opened the window and took the letter from the owl before it gave an indignant hoot and flew out the window.

"It's from the twins" she said as _she_ dropped down into, the now seated Harry's lap. Opening it she grinned and said "It says that they will be coming up for the first Quidditch match of the season, they are going to be doing some advertisement or their shop and…it seems that someone has told them about you Rags, and they want to meet you, they are also asking me and Harry about you." She looked up into Rags' confused look and continued.

"I would hazard a guess that Ron blabbed to the twins that you were bullying him and that you have turned Harry, Hermione and I against him, bloody prat."

Rags shrugged his large shoulders and said "Well at least it gives me a chance to put faces to all the stories that I have heard about the two of them, if I can convince them that I'm not an arse they might agree to give me some tips for any future Quidditch games."

Harry nodded, the twins were excellent at two things, jokes and pranks and being Beaters, and if Rags wanted to find himself some coaches on the sport then he had picked two of the best.

Not long after the letter had been read Hermione and Ginny unexpectedly excused themselves for the evening, stating that they needed to go back to the Gryffindor Girls dorms as they were both extremely tired, neither Harry or Rags bought this story as both girls had a small mischievous smile on their faces, after giving their boyfriends a final kiss goodnight to two beauties made their way up to the dorms to get their outfits ready for tomorrow, not that Rags and Harry had any idea what was going on, but they had an idea that _something _was going on.

No sooner than the pair of girls had disappeared up the staircase to the girls dorms Harry leaned closer to Rags and asked "Rags you've been in some pretty dangerous situations before right?"

Rags nodded his head, not knowing where Harry was going with his train of thought, but decided to let the green eyed man go with it and see what happened.

"Well, I'd class this situation as dangerous" Harry's glace up to the girls dorms let Rags know exactly what he was referring to "I was wondering if you had any advice on how to handle it and survive at the same time?"

Rags was fighting to keep a smile off his face when he replied "Well there is only once course of action in a situation like this" he adopted a resigned look on his face as he said " and its running for your life, don't stop cause it'll be hell on earth if they catch you."

This was too much for the two friends and they quickly dissolved into laughter that could probably be heard in Dumbledore's office half way across the school.

--

The following morning found a nervous Rags and Harry waiting for Hermione and Ginny in the Gryffindor Common Room, that nervousness had almost progressed to outright terror when Lavender Brown came down from the dorms with a message saying that the two of them would meet the boys at breakfast as they were still _'Getting Ready'_ that single phrase almost made Harry go back down to the Chamber of Secrets and see if there was another Basilisk down there, glancing at his friend it looked like Rags would accept the invitation to come along too.

The two friends were eating breakfast, albeit a small one on account of their nerves, all things considered this was probably going to be classified as both of their official 'first dates' with their girlfriends, and could very well make determine whether or not they were talked too for the next week or so, depending on the success of the day.

Both boys head snapped round to look at the door as a fourth year Gryffindor boy echoed the words that had been spoken at the Yule Ball "Wow is that Granger?"

Rags felt as though his heart had stopped, yes it was a Hermione, but a Hermione reminiscent of her fourth year, a girl who had gone all out to impress someone, a very lucky someone in Rags' own humble opinion especially if he was that someone was him.

Hermione was dressed so differently from her norm that people were shocked and amazed enough that they almost didn't recognize her until they had taken a second, or in some Slytherin's cases a third look. Her hair was swept up into a loose flowing ponytail, with a few strands that trailed down in front of her face, giving it an attractive innocent look. Hermione had donned a tight blue t-shirt that showed both a hint of cleavage and a considerable amount of midriff, especially for a Hogwarts student, combined with knee high tan colored boots and, in Rags' opinion, white jeans that looked like they were painted on.

Before she had walked into the Great Hall Hermione had practically been shaking with nerves, she hardly ever dressed up, and had never put in the amount of time to make herself look like she did now, especially to impress a guy. But seeing the expressions on everyone's face, and Ginny's parting words of encouragement ringing in her ears, gave her the confidence to walk into the Great hall with her head held high.

Seeing Rags' wide eyed and opened mouthed expression, brought a _small_ self satisfied smirk to Hermione's face, and a _slight_ sashay to her hips as she walked down the Gryffindor table.

When she reached Rags she acted as though everything was normal, she leant down and kissed him on the cheek "Morning Rags, ready for Hogsmeade?" With that she sat down opposite him and got herself some breakfast, and waited for him to say anything.

The simple act of asking him a question seemed to snap Rags out of his silence and a broad smile filtered across his face. "Wow Hermione you look fantastic" he exclaimed, an exclamation that broadened Hermione's own smile, it was always nice to be paid a compliment, especially when you were someone that didn't get many.

Out of the corner of his eye Rags noticed Ginny coming into the Hall dressed very similarly to Hermione, and Harry's reaction that was surprisingly familiar to his own, and deep down in his soul he knew that today was going to be a _good_ day.

--

The four friends made their way down to the Entrance Hall in preparation for their leaving of Hogwarts and spending the day at the wizarding village of Hogsmeade. Rags, for one, was looking forward to this day with barely contained excitement, excitement that brought a smile to his friends faces, seeing the normally serious Norwegian so 'bouncy', Ginny put it, was quite humorous, but Rags just ignored their smiles.

His excitement was due to two things, firstly, as everyone knew, he was looking forward to seeing Hogsmeade and spending the day with Hermione, on their first 'official' date, secondly he had something in the inside pocket of his new Dragon leather jacket that he wanted to give to Hermione, it was in a long intricately carved wooden box, a box he kept checking when no one was looking at him, it would be just his luck to go and loose this thing, something that he had spent so much time on, and then loose it on the day that he wanted to give it to the girl that it was meant for.

None of the group were surprised that Rags was able to see the Thestrals that were drawing the carriages that would take them to Hogsmeade, even though the dread steeds could only be seen by someone who had seen death, and as such Ginny and Hermione worried that it would remind Harry and Rags of the tragedies and horrors that each of them had seen in their lives.

But their fears were unfounded, Harry was introducing Rags to a particular Thestral, that Ginny pointed out could have very well have been the one that Harry rode to the Department of Mysteries last year. What's more Rags seemed to be fascinated by the creatures, something for which Hermione was proud of him for, even though Thestrals had a dark place in wizarding society, especially because of the prerequisites that were required in order to see them, Rag didn't judge them, he just thought that they were interesting creatures that he wanted to lean more about.

The four were chatting amicably in their carriage, in which they ere lucky enough that none of Harry's fan club, and Rags increasingly large amount of female fangirls, followed them into, when Ginny came up with a great idea.

"Hey everyone I just had a brain wave" she stuck her tongue out at Rags as she heard him whisper to Hermione _'do you think it hurt?' _before she continued "Rags quiet, well you know that there is that new shop that has opened in Hogsmeade just last month, _Collywater's Costumes for all Occasions_" at the answering nods from Harry and Hermione, and Rags' shrug she unveiled her plan.

"Seeing as we are all going to the Halloween Fancy Dress Ball, I thought that it might be fun if we didn't let our dates know what we were going as" at their confused looks she sighed dramatically and said "great I'm friends with the dunderheads" before getting smacked on the arm by a grinning Hermione, the boys were smart enough to stay out of it.

"What I mean is, when we get to Hogsmeade why don't we all head off to Honeydukes for some chocolate, then I'll take Rags around Hogsmeade showing him the sights, while you Harry and Hermione go get your costumes sorted out, or at least get an idea, when your done we'll meet you at Honeydukes again and you two can go to Zonkos and Rags and I'll go costume hunting, we can meet later at Zonkos and then we can go on our separate dates after lunch. How does that sound?"

Hermione turned to her friend and said "Wouldn't it make more sense for us girls to get our outfits together, and the boys to get theirs?"

Ginny smirked and said "Do you honestly think that the two of them have the cognitive capacity to pick out costumes that would work with ours; we've discussed the kind of costume that we each want so we can help out the boys and still have it be a surprise on Halloween."

Rags looked at Harry, then at the two talking girls and said "Hey Harry, we just got burned didn't we?"

Harry just sighed and said "Yep, get used to it mate."

Ginny beamed when everyone thought it was a good idea, the grin turned slightly goofy when Harry kissed her senseless proclaiming that she was a genius, something that caused the other two in the carriage to snigger quietly to themselves, although secretly knowing that they were not much better.

--

Rags immediately loved Hogsmeade, the quaint village touched something inside of him, something that knew that he would come back here, as to him, someone who had lead a very unpleasant life, the quiet little village was somewhere he felt at peace, a place that was definitely worth a return visit.

The other place that had a profound effect on the young man was Honeydukes, seeing all the mountainous slabs of chocolate, the different sweets, and the crowds of smiling students brought a smile to the normally reserved Norwegian, but it didn't stop his mouth from watering, one of the lesser known facts about Rags was that he suffered from a rather severe condition, known to all as 'sweet tooth', no pie or crumble was safe at the Gryffindor table when he was nearby.

After indulging themselves on some rather excellent Honeydukes chocolate Rags and Ginny wandered off so that Rags could have a look at some of the other shops that were open, while Harry and Hermione made their way over to the costume shop, they were lucky that they chose to go when they did, seeing as the shop wasn't all that well known so a majority of the students hadn't been there yet, so there was still many costumes to chose from.

The pair of them had spent a little longer than planned in the costume shop, but that was fine with both Harry and Hermione, as they had not been able to spend as much talking, not like they used to in previous years, as this year, even though the year was still young, had already been a little hectic.

But while they had been at the shop they had been able to complete both of their goals they had talked about everything, ranging from how the remainder of their summers had gone after Hermione had left Headquarters, what they thought about how Ron had been acting, and after that unpleasant conversation, they moved onto the topic of Rags.

Hermione had not told Ginny and Harry about what she had seen inside of Rags' memories, as she had felt that it hadn't been her place to talk about it, and the other couple had respected that wish, but she had talked to them about how he still seemed to have unresolved issues with things, and she gave Harry one of her famous Hermione Granger hugs when she heard that later in the weekend Harry was planning to sit down with Rags and try to talk to him a bit about his experiences, seeing as they were similar to his own, he thought that he could help.

They had each found a costume that each had thought appropriate, costumes of which they both approved off even if they were on the pricey side, Harry had made Hermione's day so far by saying that if he wasn't taken he would seriously consider asking Hermione out after he had seen her in her costume, Rags wouldn't know what hit him.

--

In the meantime Ginny and Rags had walked around and seen most of the interesting sights that there were to see in Hogsmeade, at the moment they were standing outside the Shrieking Shack, Ginny was telling Rags a bit more about its history.

Glancing at her watch she realized that it was time for her and Rags to head back to Honeydukes to meet the others, as they too needed to get their costumes, she was looking forward to it so much that she was grinning like a lunatic, Rags didn't notice he was to preoccupied with what he was planning to do later today.

The four of them met up at Honeydukes again before continuing on their separate ways, Harry and Hermione over to Zonkos, and Ginny and Rags over to Collywater's to get their own costumes.

They didn't take as long as Harry and Hermione, since Ginny practically already knew what she wanted to get as a costume, Rags' wolf whistle only confirmed what she wanted to hear, it was Rags who required the time, firstly it was hard to find a costume that fit his larger size, and secondly to find something that he wanted, he had a vague idea that on what he wanted but finding it was another matter. When he found what he wanted, and at a price that could match his budget, he only had about one hundred galleons to his name, until he managed to go to Gringotts he would have to rely on what was in his pocket, but after seeing him in it and his ideas for where he wanted to take the costume Ginny smiled and said only one thing.

"Do it, it sounds hot when you put it like that."

Rags just smirked and said "You're not the one I need to hear that from."

Ginny just laughed, Rags soon joined her, they left the store happy in the knowledge that their packages would be waiting for them in their school trunks in their dorms via Hogwarts House Elf.

--

The four of them met back up outside of the Three Broomsticks for some lunch, you could practically hear the stomachs rumbling from the other side of the town, although it may have had something to do with the delicious smells that were coming from the friendly pub, it was obvious Madame Rosmerta was cooking up something special.

Ginny and Harry wandered off to find a table while Hermione with Rag in tow, went to the bar to order the first round of Butterbeer and to tell Madame Rosmerta that they would be staying for lunch, and to come over and take their orders after their first drink.

Madame Rosmerta chatted to the two young people at the bar for a few moments; she enjoyed talking to the students that came into her establishment, they were so full of life and laughter it was hard not to have your spirits uplifted when you talked to them. Needless to say, she had known Hermione Granger and her friends for several years but the young man that was standing next to her was a complete mystery, Rosmerta had never seen him before, she would have remembered such a striking young man.

After getting their drinks Rags and Hermione carried them back to the table that Harry and Ginny had picked out. The four of them sat chatting about nothing in particular, they had come to an unspoken agreement that they would try to avoid all the dark and murky topics that they _had _to talk about sometime, but today was purely for fun, as Rags found out after he ahd eaten a sweet that Harry gave him, one of Fred and George's _Canary Creams_, turning him into a canary for a few minutes.

Rags was not impressed when he finally returned to being a human, but glancing at the scattered yellow feathers that were lying round the chair he was sitting in he was able to see the humor of the situation and burst out laughing. They picked up their menus, with Rags forcing Harry to promise not to slip anything into his food that may or may not change his physical appearance, Harry still laughing at the shocked expression that had been on both Rags the person and Rags the canary, managed to nod his head in acquisition of his friend's demands.

Lunch was an enjoyable affair, the food was, as usual, excellent and the conversation mimicked this, not that they were able to get much out of Rags during lunch as he was exploring the culinary delights of Madame Rosmerta' braised lamb shanks and mashed potatoes. Lunch however did come to an end and the four of them split apart, intending to spend the rest of the day in Hogsmeade as couples, but with plans to meet up before the had to return to Hogwarts so they could go up to the castle together. Harry and Ginny wondered off to some part of Hogsmeade, probably to the Quidditch shop that was sporting the latest fashion in sporting wear, but trying to stay as far away from Madame Puddifoot's tea house as was humanly possible, whilst still staying in the same town.

Rags had different ideas though; as he and Hermione left The Three Broomsticks he took her hand in his and began to lead her towards the Shrieking Shack. "Rags, why are we going to the Shrieking Shack? You know I've already been there don't you?" she asked, a little amused at his behavior, she really wanted to go to the bookshop at some point today.

Rags just smiled at her and said "Trust me ok. After this we can go wherever you want to go, I just want to go somewhere where we aren't going to be interrupted" he paused for a minute and took in Hermione's face, who was trying to hide her amusement "and that isn't supposed to be as creepy as it sounds okay?" he managed to say with a grin, and control his embarrassment.

Hermione, deciding to be a little daring, gave Rags a sultry look and said "That's a pity; I was wondering what you wanted to do with me when we were 'alone' Mr. Valerian?"

The reaction she got was not one that she suspected she was going to get, instead of him turning bright red with embarrassment, or stuttering his words; he stopped walking and looked at her.

He then gave her a smoldering look and took in her appearance, from her boots, skin tight jeans, tight t-shirt and snug unzipped jacket, then looking her in the eyes he gave her a smirk that could only be described as _'sexy as hell'_ and said.

"Play your cards right Granger and who knows what could happen" he then took her hand again and walked towards the Shrieking Shack, pretending not to notice Hermione's face going the same color as Ginny's hair.

He grinned to himself when Hermione wasn't looking, he could feel himself changing, not in any negative or weird way, but in a good way. The more time that the spent around Hermione, Harry and Ginny, the better he felt, he felt more alive, happier and more playful, evidence of which was his comment to Hermione, something that he wouldn't have done had they not been together, and that he wouldn't even have contemplated at the beginning of the year.

Soon Rags and Hermione were standing close by the Shrieking Shack; Hermione noticed that for the first time that day, Rags looked a little nervous about something. Several ideas were going around in her head about what he could be up to, and coming out here for a snog in nature wasn't very high on that list, she figured that this was something that would be much more monumental.

Rags turned to face Hermione and took both of her hands in his and gave her a shy smile "You know this was a lot easier to do when all I had to do was think about it" he said, Hermione just grinned, waiting for him to go on, knowing that he would continue when he was ready.

"Oh sod it" Rags said with a small smile, which brought an identical one to Hermione's face at the use of the _very_ British expletive, "I'll just go with Dizzy's idea then."

He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a plainly carved wooden box which he gently passed over to Hermione who looked at it in shock, firstly she was amazed the Rags got her a present, and secondly she was immensely curious as to what was in it. But her reaction to what she saw in it was vastly different to what she was expecting, so much so that she gasped in shock.

Inside was a pendant on a long silver chain, it was stunning, the chain was a simple one, long and thin made from delicate, simple chain links of pure shining silver, but the pendant drew her eyes almost immediately. It was made of gold, a little larger and thinner than a standard galleon piece that glimmered in the weak October sunlight, decorating the piece were Nordic swirls in the same shining silver as the chain. There was something ever so slightly similar about the design for the piece, the darkened metallic swirls on either side of the silver ones that seemed to pull at her memory.

"Rags this is… it's beautiful" she exclaimed taking the pendant from its resting place and letting it playfully dangle from her fingertips, the weak sun making patterns of golden fire across the burnished surface "the workmanship alone it absolutely exquisite."

Hermione looked up into Rags' face and saw him with a small smile adoring his handsome face, "What?" she asked him wondering what he was smiling about.

Rags' smile grew a little wider, although on the inside he was jumping for joy that his gift had been well received, seeing as he had never been able to give anything nice to anyone special so he was a little nervous how Hermione would react to the pendant.

"Oh it's nothing really important Hermione, just that a craftsman likes to hear that his work is appreciated."

Hermione's eyes grew a little wider as he finished "You MADE this…for me? Why? I mean I love it, it's gorgeous but why?"

Rags' smile took on a slightly sad look and he said "Well two reasons really firstly I understand that people who are together give gifts to show affection on special days, and I feel that this is a special day. Secondly I've never really had anyone special enough to give a gift like this to until I met you, and I suppose you know the rest of that story."

Hermione couldn't form an answer; the fact that he had _made _something so special or their first date astounded her, that he could be so thoughtful however was completely within his character to give something that he made, rather than something the he had just gone out and bought.

Smiling brightly Hermione unclasped the chain and handed it to Rags, turning around so that her back was to him Hermione lifted her long, thick hair off the back of her neck in a silent sign to ask Rags to help her put the pendant on.

Rags carefully draped the pendant around Hermione's neck, his fingers lingering slightly on the soft skin beneath the chain, and then slowly moving back through her hair as he finished, not seeing Hermione gently touch the pendant as it hung between her breasts. What he wasn't expecting was Hermione to turn around grab his head and shoulders in her hands and pull him in for the most lip bruising, tongue dueling kiss of his life, he may not have been expecting it but he certainly wasn't complaining. Matching her boldness, his arms snaked around her pulling her close, one of his hands came to the middle of her back, moving slightly up and down her back, causing Hermione to arch her back to increase the contact. His second hand came to rest just above her bum, very daring for someone like him, his thumb and fingers found and began to caress the few inches of exposed skin that the tight jacket and short top didn't cover.

Smirking slightly at his befuddled, goofy, expression Hermione herself tried to keep the heat from her own face as she battled her raging teenage hormones. Slightly out of breath she said the first thing that came to her mind "Now can we go to the bookshop?"

Rags stared at Hermione; Hermione stared at Rags although it was he who broke first. A smile crept onto his lips before the two of them were roaring with laughter, clutching onto each other to keep themselves on their feet, so great was their mirth.

It was a _very_ happy group of teenagers that met back up at the carriages to take them back to Hogwarts, the day that the four of them had spent in Hogsmeade was exactly what they had needed, it took their minds of past tragedies, painful memories, and of course the more mundane issues like studying and such, not that you would know from the amount of books that Rags was carrying with him, loaded into three separate bags were about ten different kinds of spell, and other wizarding books, only two of them were his.

--

Harry was annoyed; no better make that angry, no actually for the sake of all who were there's sanity Harry was pissed off. He and the rest of his year mates had just spent another delightful double period being insulted by the resident greasy bat, also known as Professor Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin House. The lesson had been filled with snide remarks about Harry's parents, his friendships with muggleborns and those of 'questionable ancestry', and also his Quidditch skills.

Harry had no idea how a teacher, let alone a professor that was supposed to hold themselves to a higher ethical and moral standing than normal educators, was able to hold onto his position in a school where he constantly berated the people that were placed under his care.

Harry had gotten angry at the former Potions Professor and had fired back a stinging retort after one of the mans ever so thinly veiled innuendos about his parents, such a remark that had landed him in detention with the man, although he wasn't the only one that had a bone to pick with Snape.

Rags had very nearly blown his top too; he had managed to keep his temper around Snape when he made snide comments around Hermione when they had just been friends, but now that they were dating the big Norwegian took any insult to Hermione as a personal affront, much to Hermione's humor. She described it as 'chauvinistically romantic, in a very caveman kind of way', which only increased her humor in regards to him as Ginny was the one to explain what a chauvinist was, as Rags didn't have a complete understanding of the whole of the English language yet, as in this case some things still eluded him. The only reason that he hadn't beaten Snape into a bloody mess during this lesson is because Hermione restrained him, it was only a hand on his arm but it had been enough to stop him from having Dumbledore look for a new DADA Professor.

He thought back to the conversation that he'd had with his friend after the four of them had cone back from Hogsmeade. It was one of the more emotional talks of his life, and in Rags' life too. The pair of them had talked about their similar experiences, and had been able to garner a small amount of closure from talking to someone who'd had been through much the same thing, both had, had their lives torn apart by Lord Voldemort, both had struggled through hardships that no one of their age should have had to go through, and perhaps most importantly they had seen someone that they cared about killed before their eyes. What had been a shock was that towards the end of their little chat Rags had done something unexpected, he had become thoughtful before conjuring a group of glass vials with a flick of his wand, and pulling a few strands of memory from his head and placing then within said vials, he had said.

"Harry, if there is anyone that deserves to understand things about Riddle its you, so I have something that I want you to have" he had started calling his father by his last name, not that Harry could blame him. "In these vials are two distinct memories, the first is all my interactions with him, the second all my altercations and interactions with his Death Eaters, and lastly" he paused at this and Harry wondered what the hell he could showing him, "In the last one is what Hermione saw, I would like you and Ginny to see it, I…don't think that I could talk about it to you two in person."

In turn Harry had given Rags, once the older boy had showed him how to do it, all of his adventures over his previous five years at Hogwarts, including his more painful memories of watching Cedric Diggory get killed in his fourth year, coupled with the return of Voldemort, and watching Sirius fall through the veil in his previous year. Harry had spoken to Ginny, and they planned to look at the memories later that week end, the Headmaster already having given his permission to use his won pensive for the viewing.

Fortunately however the detention would not be that night, as Snape had said that he had too many papers that he needed to grade, so Harry's gathering would not have to be changed. As he walked through the halls of Hogwarts on his way to the Great Hall for lunch he thought about how mysterious Rags and Hermione had been for the last few days, they had come to Harry and Ginny with the suggestion that the four of them meet up in the Room of Requirement later this evening as there was an idea that they wanted to put to the group before any plans to get the DA off the ground were finalized.

Harry entered the Great Hall and looked around to see if his friends had made it down before him, he highly doubted it as Hermione had gone off to meet Ginny who was coming out of Charms at the same time the sixth years were coming out of DADA, and Rags had said that he wanted to go and check up on something before he went to lunch, he glanced around and didn't see them, he'd figured that he wouldn't seeing as they had gone to different parts of the castle and he had merely taken his time in getting to the Great Hall.

He saw Ron sitting by himself, not an uncommon site these days seeing as the rest of Gryffindor had shunned him after they had found out how he had been treating Rags and Hermione. Although that didn't stop the prat from trying to be Harry's bet friend when Rags and Hermione were not around, it was quite disturbing really, he seemed to think that there was nothing wrong with his actions, that Rags was a girlfriend stealing bastard and Hermione was just going through a phase, although whenever the big Norwegian was around he made himself scarce, so Harry assumed at least _some_ of Rags' warning got through his skull, if the situation wasn't so annoying he would have found it quite humorous.

He sat down opposite Dean and Seamus who were, once again, talking about football while Neville sat there wondering how a 'red card' was supposed to work. Harry glanced up just in time to see Hermione and Ginny walk in through the doors of the Great Hall talking earnestly, this by itself was not uncommon, as it was well known that the two of them were the best of friends, but it was the look on Ginny's face that set Harry's teeth on edge, it was the look that she shared with her older brothers Fred and George, usually before somebody got pranked big time, or something expensive blew up.

The two girls sat down in front of Harry and carried on their conversation, with the occasional whisper driven glance and giggle in his direction, which he noted did absolutely nothing for his nerves, giggling girls could mean just about anything, but giggling, whispering girls usually meant trouble for just about any guy in the vicinity.

Harry glanced around, hoping that Rags would turn up, just so that if the girls were in fact planning something, he wouldn't be left to face it on his own. Harry did not think that this particularly train of thought was cowardly, surviving Voldemort five times kind of gives you a particularly strong survival instinct, a survival instinct that was telling him to be wary of, what appeared to be, two plotting girls sitting in front of him.

Eventually Rags showed up, he was looking through an _exceptionally _large Care of Magical Creatures book, a book that he had obviously only just gotten from the library, and was reading with almost the same enthusiasm that Hermione read a majority of her own text books.

Harry was just glad to have someone around so that if the girls tried to do something he wouldn't face it alone, or considering how big Rags was someone that he could effectively hide behind.

Rags sat down, almost absentmindedly, next to Harry and plated himself up some lunch, it did not take him long to notice the two whispering, giggling girls sitting opposite him and Harry, he turned to the latter and raised his eyebrow in question, wondering what was going on.

Harry just shook his head and with a slight smile told Rags, not with words but with his gestures, that he _really_ didn't want to know what was going on. Instead he turned slightly and engaged his friend, in their own conversation.

"Ready for the Quidditch match Rags?" asked Harry, wondering what his friend was thinking in relation to the upcoming match against Slytherin, and to see if he was nervous about going into his first game.

Rags smiled a little nervously and said "Honestly the more that I think about it, the worse I feel" his smile became a little more natural as Harry and Ginny, who had broken off her conversation with Hermione at the mention of the word Quidditch, burst into laughter at the mention of how nervous he was. Here was the son of the most powerful Dark Lord in centuries, and was subconsciously in possession of all his magical knowledge, even if he couldn't use it at will, knew more spells than most of the seven year _combined_, and he was scared of playing a simple game of Quidditch.

Harry got control of his laughter, remembering how terrified he had been when he had played his first game back in his first year and said "Its ok Rags just play like we have been practising and you will do fine."

Grinning in response to Harry's words the pair let the girls go back to their own conversation and returned to _their_ lunch, after all food was an important commodity to each of them, for different reasons, but the two of them valued the great variety of delicious food that was offered at Hogwarts, especially considering their upbringing.

--

Harry groaned and flopped quite unceremoniously into his favourite arm chair by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, the meeting with Rags had not gone as he had expected. Sure he had gone in there expecting to be surprised, but not to the extent that he saw Rags _dancing_, there was no way that the kind of swordplay that he was using could be anything other than a kind of dance, it was to graceful, and this is completely ignoring the devastatingly powerful spells that he had been using.

The conversation after his 'demonstration' as he called it had made something's very clear to both Harry and Ginny, they had known that Hermione was being taught _something_ by Rags, but they thought it might have been some spells and maybe a little bit of self defence, not advanced magical swordplay, a style of fighting that Rags immediately offered to tutor both Harry and Ginny in as well. It seemed that he had remembered the conversation that he'd had with Harry in the Room of Requirement when Harry had said that he wasn't going to repeat the mistakes that he had made the previous year, when he had rushed to the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius, with the end result being his Godfather's untimely death.

Although Ginny had been able to convince Harry that he was not to blame for the incident, and that the blame lied solely on the shoulders of Lord Voldemort, but this fact did not stop a tear being brought to Harry's eyes at the memory of what he had lost. His vow remained though; no longer would he battle Death Eaters with _stunning _spells and _jelly leg jinxes_, he needed to be faster, stronger, harder than he was before, and that was why he sought out Rags.

Ginny came in through the portrait hole, didn't even glance at anyone in the Common Room, which was good considering that Harry was the only one that was there, it being late enough that even the most die hard Gryffindor night owls had headed for their beds.

She flopped down on top of Harry, who didn't even make a sound at the unexpected presence on his lap so great was his fatigue at what he had been through that night, he was in pretty good shape, Oliver Wood had seen to that, but if Oliver ever went head to head with Rags in an exercise ring Harry thought that the big Norwegian would leave the fitness obsessed former Quidditch Captain lying in the dust without breaking a sweat.

He managed to _force_ himself to wrap his arms around Ginny's slim figure as she tiredly snuggled back into his warm embrace, it was times like this that he didn't know what he would do if she wasn't in his life, she was one of the very few people in his life that were the reason that he kept on fighting this fight, for her he would face all odds. Harry knew that he had to tell Ginny exactly how he felt abut her, but he wasn't sure how to do it, he would try to speak to her tomorrow.

He glanced up and saw a rather out of breath, not to mention irate, Hermione Granger come tumbling through the portrait, making enough noise to warrant the tired Ginny to raise her head to see what was going on, seeing how Hermione looked she wriggled around on Harry's lap so that she could see her friend properly, having Harry's arms around her waist with his hands resting on her stomach had nothing to do with her decision.

"What's up Hermione? You look a little….miffed" asked Harry in a tone that spoke of his immense hope that he wasn't going to get a bollocking from his near-sister.

"Stupid, noble, self sacrificing, long haired….." muttered Hermione as she plonked herself down on the couch opposite the cuddling couple and crossed her arms crossly earning a raised eyebrow from Harry and a confused look from Ginny, who pointed up at Harry, as the descriptions, aside from the hair, described Harry to the T.

Hermione shook her head at her friends obvious question "no I'm not talking about Harry, I'm talking about Rags. We were walking back from the Room of Requirement, not long after you two had left" they had decided that they would never leave as a group, made it harder to be discovered that way.

"Well as we were coming down the seventh floor corridor that devil cat of Filch's came round the corner and started raising up a ruckus, I never knew a cat could make so much noise. Naturally Rags and I took off in the opposite direction; he used that _'Shading Stride' _of his, dragging me along at the same time, we soon got away from the cat and what does he do. Consult me on what to do? No. He puts me in a broom cupboard and takes off as fast as he can, making as much noise as he can to draw Filch and his cat towards him and away from me."

Her triad over Hermione sat there with her arms crossed, face cross and her lips pouting. Harry, wisely, decided to keep out of this particular conversation and let his girlfriend handle it from here on in.

"So Hermione let me get this straight. You and Rags left after Harry and me?" head nod "You ran into Mrs Norris and Rags _dragged_ you away and put you in a broom cupboard?" another head nod "He then distracted said cat and most probably Filch too, then you ran back here when the coast was clear?" final head nod.

Hermione was too busy pouting to notice the devilish smirk that had appeared on Ginny's face before she said "So what you're really annoyed about is the fact that Rags threw you into a _broom cupboard_ and didn't join you?"

"Yes that's it exactly…wait what?" as soon as she realised what her friend ahd said a blush appeared on her cheeks, that to Harry the Common Room appeared to get a little brighter.

This blush had the side effect of both Harry and Ginny burst out laughing, which they were still doing when a _very_ out of breath Rags came dashing through the portrait hole and leant against the wall catching his breath. He took in his two laughing friends and his scarlet faced girlfriend and shook his head in a classic _'I don't know what just happened and I don't want to know' _fashion.

As he flopped down on the couch next to Hermione he heard her say, in a rather acidic voice, "And where have you been?"

She sounded pissed so Rags decided that he would do what men have done for countless generations when faced with the wrath of a significant other, he answered her questions as precisely, and as _fast _as possible.

"Well after I put you in the cupboard, which I will add in my defence was only to through that damned cat off our scent, I legged it all the way down to the entrance to the dungeons, took me long enough but I managed to lock the mangy beast in one of Snape's former Potions dungeons. Hopefully she'll choke on something poisonous or sharp and we could be done from the menace of the demon cat for the rest of our time here."

Throughout his whole speech Hermione had gradually gotten over her embarrassment, although her cheeks were still a little pink at the thought of Rags joining her in a broom cupboard. Not that she was adverse to the idea, in fact if he continued being the kind of boyfriend that he was she would consider taking him to one in the near future, _very_ near future.

She was drawn from her musings at Harry and Ginny's laughter; the two of them were barely containing themselves at the thought of an irate Mrs Norris being locked in one of the potion rooms deep in the bowls of Hogwarts castle. Also the idea of Snape, even though he had taken up his coveted Defence against the Dark Arts post, still spent a lot of time holed up in his beloved dungeons, coming in and finding all of his ingredients and potions spread all over the floor, and most likely coating a soon to be very unlucky cat.

Even though she was firmly against any form of cruelty, be it to human, house elf or animal, Hermione found the idea of the hated feline locked in Snape's potion room quite funny, evidently Rags did too as soon all four of them were laughing like maniacs, not that this was all that unusual for students at Hogwarts.

--

There conversation continued on for far longer than any of them would have guessed, none of them paying attention to the time. But soon, as is the case with almost any small group that sit up late into the night, two of the group began to feel themselves succumb to the dark allure of sleep, so with this in mind Harry and Ginny made their goodbyes to Rags and Hermione, easily the two night owls in the group, Hermione because no matter the time she was able to study any course from any book, even if sometimes she had to rely on the help of coffee. Rags because he tried his best _not_ to sleep, his memories and nightmares overwhelming even his considerable courage, something that his friends, while they might not agree with him, would not begrudge him, especially Harry who knew first hand how painful dreams could be.

Hermione and Rags shared a smile as they watched Harry help Ginny up and gave her a kiss goodnight before heading up to the boys dorms, but what made them smile was that the kiss would be more likely to keep the two participants awake, rather then encourage them to sleep.

Hermione looked over at Rags and saw, to her surprise, the he was rubbing his forehead slightly, almost as if he was in pain. She scooted closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?" her voice was soft and dull of concern, she hadn't seen Rags in pain, outside of his memories of course, and the experience was not something that she really wanted to repeat.

"No but I will be" came his response, sighing he looked up into her concerned gaze and said "you know about the potions that I take to keep myself awake don't you?" At her affirmative nod he continued "Well after taking them for so long the body, it doesn't become dependent on them, wizards and witches solved that problem a _long_ time ago, but it creates something similar to spell backlash."

Hermione nodded her head again, not completely understanding where he was going with his explanation, but having a rough idea herself as she understood what spell backlash was. "Go on" she said, still keeping her hand on his shoulder, determined to provide what comfort she could.

"For such a long period of almost constant exposure to a potion, in this case a pepper up potion, and its subsequent build up of backlash, the person that is taking the potion must stop for around two days. This is when the backlash kicks in. According to Madame Pomfrey it varies from person to person, mine manifests itself as severe headaches. I've dealt with worse, but it doesn't stop them from being painful, something that Madame Pomfrey has said to me on more than one occasion."

Hermione raised her eyebrow indicating that she wanted him to explain what he meant, although he knew her well enough to know that she would have wanted to know without her having to raise her eyebrow to indicate her wishes.

With a small self depreciating smile he continued "The school matron is not overly fond of my reliance on potions, but she does understand the need for them, although this does not stop her from telling me that I should try to sleep anyway and face my nightmares which doesn't do her any good at all as I just ignore it. But she gets her revenge in the form of my headaches, she can't give me anything for them the backlash negates that, so my options are either deal with it and suffer, or sleep and suffer."

Hermione smiled sadly, _'He can't even try to go to sleep his memories are that bad, and the only remedy that he has for it is only a temporary measure'_ she thought to herself, when an idea sparked by one of her own memories came to her.

"Hey come here" Hermione said as she moved a little further away towards the far end of the couch, indicating for Rags to do something similar. He had a slightly confused expression on his face but allowed himself to be guided down so that his feet and some parts of his legs were hanging over the far arm of the couch and his head was resting in Hermione's lap.

"Hermione what are you doing?" his question trailed off at the end as he relaxed into her lap, which was mainly due to her running her fingers through his long bronze coloured hair, lightly massaging his scalp.

Hermione grinned down at the obviously relaxed and happy young man who was lying in her lap, "My mum used to do this when I was little, not matter what was wrong with me, fever, a common cold, or even if I got scared by thunderstorms" her tone changed slightly as she finished speaking, almost as though there was a secret meaning behind her mention of thunderstorms. But this didn't stop her from noticing slight pained filled flicker that crossed his eyes at the mention of her having a 'mum', but it was gone long before she could mention it.

She watched as Rag's eyes closed as he relaxed into her touch, after a moment she let her fingers slowly creep down to touch the long scar that descended over his right eye. She hadn't really touched his face since she had sat with him in the Hospital Wing after he had saved her from Malfoy's curse, as Hermione's hand reached the bottom of the scar Rags' eyes blinked open and her deep, beautiful brown eyes met his steely blue-grey ones.

"I'll stop if it's bothering you" Hermione said, her voice barely above a whisper with her eyes never once leaving his, unconsciously leaning down slightly.

"No" came the whispered return "please don't stop, it's very comforting, and I don't think I've been this relaxed for a very long time."

Rags too found himself, leaning up until his lips met Hermione's, the kiss wasn't passionate or needy it was gentle and full of feeling. The kiss continued as eyes fluttered closed as hands slowly around the back of each other's heads as the kiss deepened, for the young couple a few minutes stretched into eternity.

When the kiss ended Hermione smiled at the young man whose head was resting in her lap and, once again, ran her fingers gently through his hair again, causing a small smile to cross his features.

"You really like my hair don't you?" he said softly, not wanting to break the intimately comforting atmosphere that penetrated the Common Room.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again" said Hermione, a pink tinge tainting her cheeks, she removed her hand as he shook his head, and the fact he was still smiling caused her no small amount of confusion.

He raised his head slightly, and smirked at the look on Hermione's face as she though he was getting up, but instead he reached around and pulled the silvery clasp that held his hair, putting the clasp in his pocket he flicked his head a little bit so his bronze hair was out of the way when he returned his head to Hermione's lap.

Smirking up at her, he indicated his hair with a flick of his eyes and said "Well there you go, enjoy" his smile only got wider as he felt her gently hands and fingers resume their gently massage of his scalp, only this time they continued on outward gently pulling his hair.

She noticed that his eyes were beginning to close, so she gently kept up her administrations, hoping to relax him further towards sleep, he had told her about the nightmares that plagued his dreams whenever he tried to sleep, but Hermione hoped that by staying with him she would e able to provide him with some form of comfort should his sleep be troubled.

Hermione understood that this was taking their relationship to a new level, new territory that was unknown to the both of them. But she knew what her heart was telling her and, suspected what Rags himself felt so she felt justified in what she was doing.

Rags knew that he was about to fall asleep, and as such every shred of instinct in his body was screaming at him to fight of the approaching darkness of sleep, but something small inside him said to give into it, to trust that the person who was so tenderly stroking his hair and brow now would protect him from anything that his subconscious could conjure.

Slowly his eyes closed and his breathing deepened as he drifted off, before his conscious thought left him, he realised that the hands never stopped, and he noticed that the constant irrational fear that usually accompanied him when her sojourned into the realm of Orpheus was not present, that the soothing presence had 'cleansed' him of it, the last of his great revelations was a question that he asked himself when he examined the gentle warmth not only from Hermione's presence but was also emanating from him was _'Is this what love it like…?'_

Hermione saw Rags finally fall asleep, so she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against his forehead and whispered "Sleep Rags, let me be here for you for a change, I'll protect you."

With that she pulled the blanket off the sofa behind them and draped it over his sleeping form, tucking the edges around her legs to keep herself warm and settled down for a night of silent vigil over the sleeping form of the young man who had swept his way into her heart.

A/N: LONG, bloody hell that took me a long time, sorry about that folks. And yes before anyone starts on at me, yes I know the story has been moving a little slow, but I'll let you in on a secret, after X-Mass this will change _dramatically_, thanks again to everyone who reviewed, keep doing it and I'll keep posting.

Oh anyone want to submit an Idea on what direction they want the story to go, please feel free to let me know via review, also let me know if there are more character interactions that you want to see, like in the next chapter Voldie makes and appearance, and perhaps the prophecy will be revealed, duh duh duh. Ok Cheers everyone TBK


	15. Quidditch

A/N: Thank you to everyone that reviewed, please keep doing so as you are the guys that drive this story. Sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story but Real Life has been as hectic as it can be, mainly due to my university exams, but anyway madness and mayhem endue in this chapter. There is Quidditch, Malfoy, romance an revelations

Story:

It was the day before the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, perhaps the most anticipated match in school year, not only was it the first match of the season it was the _first _match of the _season_ between _Gryffindor_ and _Slytherin_, the two greatest rivals at Hogwarts, with a rivalry that went back for more than a thousand years.

Hermione, Rags, Ginny and Harry were sitting in the Great Hall having breakfast the morning before the big match, the scene oddly reminiscent from their first year, except in this scene the character of Harry was being played by a slightly taller, broader, more muscled Norwegian who was absolutely terrified that he was going to embarrass his house in front of the entire school. He was sitting picking at his cereal before he and Hermione made their way to Ancient Runes because, like Harry in his first year, he had people to get him to eat.

"Rags, you really have to eat something, and don't be so worried the game isn't until tomorrow, you have a whole day to think about what you're going to do" after this particular statement, Ginny was finding it hard to keep a straight face at the glare that Rags was sending in her direction. Harry had decided that he wasn't going to get involved unless Rags was in this condition tomorrow before the match, so he, wisely, left it to Hermione to deal with, in other words cheer Rags up and get him eating something.

Hermione was torn, having never been a _huge_ fan of Quidditch, except when Harry, and now Rags, was playing, she was alternating between finding the situation hilarious, and upsetting Rags, or feeling sympathy for him because he had no idea was playing an actual team based sport was like.

"Rags worrying about things is not going to change the fact that they are going to happen, and worrying about things generally make them worse, so please, for me, relax a little bit and eat some breakfast" just to make sure that he understood what she was saying, she pouted slightly, as both Ginny and her mother had told her, the pout was a girls secret weapon, batting your eyelashes tended to make boys laugh, which defeated the whole purpose of the act in the first place.

Rags' raised eyebrow indicated that he was aware or the semi guilt trip that Hermione was trying to send him on. But he did pick up his spoon and continue eating his breakfast, the small smile that he sent her way reminded her of the smile that had adorned his face the moment that he had woken up his head nestled in her lap.

Just thinking about it took her back to that moment only a few days ago. For Hermione it had been a strange night, one of the ones that she had spent the majority awake, but had not once even looked at a novel or textbook. She had spent the evening gently stroking her hand over his face and through his long hair, which had surprised her as she was sure that the constant attention would have disturbed Rags' slumber, but it hadn't, he had actually moved his head closer to her hand to increase the contact.

This situation gave Hermione a chance to observe Rags at a time when he was most vulnerable, she had only briefly seen him sleep when she had seen his memories, but after seeing him sleep for the whole evening she had been able to see how he _should _look. How he would have looked, minus the scars, if he had lived the kind of childhood that Hermione and Ginny had lead, that of a child with a loving family.

He didn't look innocent exactly, but rather he looked relaxed, his features much more gentle than they were when he was awake, though not harsh, there was a certain tightness about his features and stance that had disappeared when he had fallen asleep.

His eyes had fluttered open, and for one humorous moment, he'd had absolutely no idea where he had been, but that had changed when he had set eyes upon Hermione they had snapped into focus with such clarity that the speed had been astounding. Although the small smile upon his lips didn't take away any severity of his gaze, it did make it gentler, despite this in Hermione's opinion it was more intense than anything else, and she liked it.

"Have you been watching over me all night?" he asked, his voice, surprisingly, not laced with sleep, but soft and gentle. As he finished speaking he gently caught her hand, as it had begun doing what it had done the previous evening and begun stroking his hair.

"Yes" was her equally soft and gentle response, her eyes had not left his, even as he had sat up and turned to face her.

"What's the time, it feels early" he said, noticing that the sky outside was still dark, but this being England meant that the mornings would be dark for a long while, especially if it was as early as he thought that it was.

Glancing at her watch Hermione turned to Rags and said "Its four thirty in the morning, I thought from the way that you were sleeping that you would sleep until noon."

His eyes flickered to her lips for a moment, and his smile grew a little larger, both found themselves drawing closer together. Until it was Hermione that grew tired of the slow pace, and grabbed him by that back of the head and crashed their lips together.

What started out as a fierce snogging fest soon became much more slow and gentle and seemed, to the pair to last far longer than it really did. When the kiss itself ended Hermione, found that she was nestled against Rags' powerful chest, snuggling in she soon found herself in a very comfortable position.

It was strange, Hermione thought to herself, she had been awake for most of the night but she didn't feel tired in the slightest, even now. She soon realised that she was actually lying on Rags' chest her head nestled just below his chin, she could not remember them actually lying down, but she was not overly concerned about them doing so. This, itself was an indication of how content she was at the situation she found herself in, she was neither worried or concerned that someone would see the two of them like this, nothing mattered to the two of them but each other.

They spent the rest of the early morning, until the sun came over the mountains of Scotland that surrounded the castle, talking quietly about different things. Things that had no real consequence and were more like flights of fancy than real topics of conversation, but to Hermione and Rags they were exceptionally important, for they allowed the two of them to spend some much needed time together, that made their relationship all the stronger for the it.

--

That had been several nights ago and now the pair were closer than ever, they had never gone beyond kissing, in fact they hadn't spent the night sleeping together since that night, but they had talked through the night, discussing any and all topics that came to mind, and now Hermione was wondering the best way for Rags to meet her parents. They of course knew about him, hardly a letter went home to the Granger household without Hermione mentioning her friends, so a boyfriend was going to get at least some mention, and from Hermione Granger that meant no less than one page. At least her mother was keen to meet him, her father was of the opinion that she was too young to begin dating until she was, _at least_, thirty five something that the other two Granger women heartily disagreed with him upon.

Meeting Ginny's gaze she felt a flush colour her cheeks as another memory came to mind, that of Ginny discovering the two later _that_ morning, she had not mentioned anything at the time but she had teased Hermione quite unmercifully for the rest of that day. Although to be fair, the pretty red head was not much better, as she was constantly caught staring at Harry caught usually by Hermione, which unfortunately evened the playing field, which meant that the teasing must go on. So while their respective girlfriends were teasing each other into oblivion Harry and Rags were exercising that ancient proverb, most likely created by a Gryffindor _"The Strong are Staying Silent"_.

Hermione looked over at Ginny and her smile was no longer teasing but happy for her friend, Ginny had come running to Hermione the other day and had told her that Harry had told her something wonderful, something that she had been waiting to hear for some time. Harry had pulled Ginny aside and told her that he loved her, although in typical Harry fashion it had taken him about ten minutes to do it. Harry Potter, one of the most famous wizards of the twentieth century, had told Ginny Weasley, a girl from a poor but proud pureblood family, a family that could not offer him anything in return, that he loved her, the response had of course been the same, Ginny had been interested in the legend of Harry Potter since she was four, and had liked him progressively more since he had saved her life in the Chamber of Secrets. Yes it had begun as a childlike infatuation but she had gotten past that and seen the real Harry, and had truly fallen for him.

It also explained the ever present grin that had adorned Harry's face for the last few days, he had been going around with a smile that if it was turned into electric current, would have been able to power an area the size of greater London for several years.

Rags, despite being ever so _slightly_ nervous about the upcoming match was actually feeling exceptionally content with the way that his life was going at the moment, and content was a word that he didn't think that he had used much in his normal vocabulary, let alone to describe his own life. But right now with his friends around him, with Hermione being the caring influence that he had prayed for throughout his entire life, time travel and all, he was starting _finally_ to move on from what had happened to him, little did he know that before the end of this year things would rapidly change, for better or worse only the three spinners could tell, and no mortal ever got a straight answer out of them.

--

The rest of the day passed as many of them had before, with the students hurrying to class, and the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses doing their best to rile each other up, and in Slytherin's case, trying to hex members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, mainly at the urging of their new Captain, Draco Malfoy.

Harry, as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain had issued a standing order, and it was that no team member went anywhere alone,_ especially _Ginny, whom he escorted everywhere himself. Anywhere that the team could be ambushed no one went alone except for one person, funnily enough it took Ron most of the day to realise that a) No one was going with him into what he categorised as danger areas and b) None of the Slytherins were trying to hex him. He thought that it was because of his great prowess as a wizard, it was, unfortunately, because they did not think that he was worth the effort.

Rags however had once again startled his Gryffindor housemates, he had actually _volunteered _to go with people when they were going to be off and by themselves, seeing as his schedule for that day was actually quite light, with only Ancient Runes and Defence Against the Dark Arts to occupy his time, of course Snape took points from Gryffindor for _absolutely_ everything that they did, even in Harry and Rags' case, making their chairs squeak too loudly when they sat down.

Rags had taken an almost fiendish glee in waiting for the Slytherin's to spring their traps on the 'unsuspecting' Gryffindor that they had cornered, only for him to appear and get the drop on them, and leaving them facedown, tied together and immobilised on the cold Hogwarts corridor floors was just so satisfying. Slytherin may be the house of cunning and ambition, but they had nothing on someone who had been taught from an early age to either kill or be killed, the fact that he was a Slytherin by blood and not by sorting helped him immensely, and he had the rest of the team, sans Ron, laughing at the dinner table as he recounted his exploits of the day.

But later that evening when the majority of Gryffindors had gone to bed Rags, Hermione, Ginny and Harry had sat in their usual positions, Harry and Ginny, with Ginny on the former's lap, in their big squashy armchair. Rags and Hermione taking up most of the space on the couch now with Hermione, instead of sitting next to Rags, leaning back against his chest as he leaned against the arm rest of the couch itself, quite a satisfactory arrangement for all concerned.

The four of them could, each in their own way, could feel the slight tension that hung in the air, tension that was caused by the upcoming Quidditch match. Not that there was tension between the team members, but the severity of Slytherin's intimidation tactics, and the rather terrifying fact that Snape had volunteered to referee the match, as Madame Hooch had been called away the previous week due to a family emergency, was weighing heavily on their minds.

Fortunately it was Ginny, in true Weasley fashion, came up with an idea that was designed to relieve that tension in the room.

"Look I know that I don't sleep much before a game, Harry doesn't either, Rags looks like he isn't going to sleep for a week, and we all know that Hermione is the ultimate night owl. So why don't we play a game to relieve the tension?"

Harry was all for it, Rags nodded his head interested to see where this was going, knowing Ginny though he would not be surprised if it was going to be something ever so _slightly _embarrassing, but it would be fun.

Hermione from her comfortable position in Rags arms was the voice of common sense, and reason, so she said "What game were you thinking off Ginny?" although sounding relaxed, everyone knew that there was a slight apprehension in her voice. Hermione had been friends with Ginny for a long time and knew that her friend had a wicked sense of humour that was more like the twins than any other member of her family, which was good as no one needed another Ron around.

Ginny's resulting smirk would have sent Auror's and Death Eaters running for their mothers, it was a smirk that would look more appropriate on the face of a rising Dark Lord, not a gentle, friendly, sadistic in the best possible way of course, red head.

"Well I was thinking about a friendly little game of truth or dare, couples rules of course" Hermione's jaw dropped, Harry perked up immediately, the year had been progressing very well, and except for a few mishaps, it was extremely boring, there was no real mystery, so far. So something that was going to be funny, entertaining, and adrenaline/hormone pumping at the same time, although his fervour was tampered when he thought that if there was a period where things may get awkward, this was it.

"Ok before we begin lets go over the rules" said Ginny when she had gotten the other three's, somewhat hesitantly in Hermione's case, agreement that they were going to play Ginny had to think quickly to come up with some rules, or knowing how things usually turned out at Hogwarts things would go too far too quick.

"Firstly this is basically the same as normal truth or dare, each person can ask anyone else here a question, but cannot ask the same person two questions in a row, and you can ask the other couple a question or dare that they both must do, but your partner must agree with your question. Also normal truth or dare rules apply, if you are given a dare or a question that you _absolutely_ do not want to answer then you can swap to your opposite option."

Rags squeezed Hermione tightly and said "Come on Hermione, this might be fun" Hermione relaxed slightly as some of the tension left her and she smiled slightly and nodded her head.

"But I know everything about you, seeing your memories saw to that" she said sweetly, causing Ginny and Harry to make mushy kissing faces, which were pointedly ignored by the other two.

Rags smirked at this and said in a low tone "Actually you know _all_ the bad things about me and my...unique past, I have plenty of other secrets that _you _and the two giggling morons sitting over there don't know" winking, which caused Hermione's heart to flutter slightly at the unintentional sexy gesture, "This would be an excellent time for you to find out."

Hermione turned to Harry and Ginny, who had _too_ innocent faces, and said in a completely serious tone, and knowing that she would be teased for what she was going to say, "Let's play, who goes first?"

Ginny raised her hand and said "Seeing as this is my idea I'll go first, oh and the person that is asked the question gets a turn once they have completed their dare, or answered their question. Ok now who should I ask first?"

She would have cackled at the sight before her, except that it was un-lady like and her mother had told her to always be lady like, she _wasn't_ always but she tried, really. The sight that had her so amused was the slightly fearful expression on Hermione's face, she couldn't see Harry as she was sitting on him, but she found the most humour in what Rags was doing, he was hiding behind Hermione's soft curls trying to not draw attention to himself. But the muscled arms encircling Hermione's waist, and the bronze hair sitting above Hermione's head kind of gave him away however.

Deciding to be kind to Rags Ginny decided that the first victim of the First 1996 Truth or Dare competition would be Hermione Granger.

Still smiling Ginny opened her mouth "Hermione, truth or dare?"

Hermione gulped slightly before deciding to play it, hopefully, safe said "Truth please" Ginny's expression changed to thoughtfulness, obviously she had hoped that Hermione would choose dare.

"Ok who was your first crush...at Hogwarts?" With this question Hermione's face turned the same colour as the tomatoes that they had eaten that night in the salad at dinner, and it was quite obvious that the answer was going to be embarrassing, and humorous, not for her, but Ginny was sure that she was going to get a laugh out of it.

Hermione, still scarlet, mumbled her answer so badly that Harry had to ask her to speak up, finally she squeaked out her answer "O...Ol...Oliver Wood" after this admission she buried her head in her hands in embarrassment.

Ginny was speechless, she had expected someone like Cedric Diggory, not the dishy Gryffindor Captain Oliver Wood, Harry roared with laughter, Rags, who had been told about Harry and Hermione's earlier adventures, which had involved Harry's early adventures with Quidditch, so he knew who Oliver Wood was, chuckled quietly and gave Hermione a gentle squeeze.

Although the four of them were laughing, Hermione because it was either laugh or cry at this point, Harry and Rags because it was funny, when Ginny said "YOU DO LIKE QUIDDITCH PLAYERS!"

Hermione managed to shut up her friend and make Rags join her in embarrassment by saying "Well I've got one of my own now, so there is nothing to worry about is there? Now I do believe that it is my turn, correct?"

Everyone nodded, and waited with baited breath to see who she would ask when suddenly "Harry truth or dare?"

Harry pretended to look thoughtful for a moment before he said "Sod it, dare."

Hermione grinned for a moment before she said "I dare you to go down to the kitchens and bring us back some snacks and butterbeer, without your cloak."

Harry's face blanched for a moment before he said "Done, give me ten minutes" kissing Ginny on the cheek he got up and nipped out of the portrait hole, once he had gone Ginny looked to Hermione and said "Are you happy now? You just lost me my cushion."

Hermione sniggered at her friend "Don't worry he'll be back, and he'll bring snacks with him, and then you get you cushion back, although personally I prefer the pillow version" she said while using her elbow to nudge Rags in the ribs, getting his attention.

"You do realise that I am still here you know, and I am more than just a pillow" he said with mock indignation, he rather enjoyed it when his friends acted like this, it showed him that they could act their ages and have fun even though the wizarding world was shrouded in so much darkens.

Hermione looked over her shoulder and smirked at her boyfriend and said "I know you're more than a pillow, but that doesn't stop you from fulfilling that role very well does it?" Not expecting and answer beyond his answering shrug, she turned back to Ginny, just as the portrait hole burst open and harry came in with a large bag in his hand, obviously out of breath.

"I swear that the next time that I see that bloody cat I'm going to punt it into the middle of next week, I mean you could have let me take the map with me never mind the cloak" placing the bag full of food on the coffee table that was situated between the sofa and the armchair, he noticed that Hermione was smiling slightly, he braised his eyebrow wanting to know what was going on.

The answer actually came from an unlikely source, one that had kept quiet for a majority of the evening, but nonetheless had been paying close attention to what had been going on, Rags.

"Harry, Hermione didn't say that you _couldn't_ take the Marauders Map with you, I think that was part of the dare you had to _think_ about it, look at who issued the dare."

Harry looked over at Ginny who was snickering behind her hand, Rags who was grinning like a Weasley twin on sugar, and finally at Hermione who was looking like the cat that had gotten the cream, and as a result he could only say one thing about the whole incident.

"Oh...crap" then everyone burst out laughing.

Harry couldn't help but join in, the situation was just too humorous for him not too "Alright you lot I get it you got me good Hermione, I think that my bad influence is finally showing its head." Which caused, a none too small smile, to grace Hermione's pretty face.

After passing round the butterbeer and snacks, and with Harry, once again having been claimed by Ginny as her 'cushion' the game began again with Harry saying "Ok then so it's my turn, I think I'm going to have to go with Rags on this one. What do you say mate? Truth or Dare?"

Rags met each of his friend's eyes with a small smile and said "Truth, do your worst...Captain."

Harry narrowed his eyes at that, not maliciously but he was not overly fond of people calling him 'Captain', "Oh don't worry My Lord, I'm sure I can think up a question that will put you in your place."

Rags laughed at that and waited to see what Harry would cook up for him, well he was smiling up to the point that he realised that Harry, judging by his relationship with Ginny, the friendship of Hermione and the influence of the Weasley twins would indeed be able to think up a suitable nasty question to ask him.

Harry smirked and said "Alright then tell us. When did you first realise that you had feelings for Hermione? And what was it that caught your eye?"

"OH good one Harry, I don't think he can get out of this one without dropping himself in it" cackled Ginny, who had given up on being mature and decided that she would just laugh when the situation called for it.

Rags surprisingly just smiled and said, to the surprise of the others, "I thought you were going to ask me a hard question Harry, this one is rather easy. I first noticed that Hermione was beautiful the first time that I saw her on the Hogwarts Express. But what 'caught my eye' as you described it was her smile, it was just after I offered to go on her prefect rounds with her, when she smiled at me, she went from being beautiful to radiant, and it was then that I knew that I wanted to see that smile again, after that I knew that I was going to have feelings for her."

Needless to say there was a stunned silence for a moment while everyone processed exactly what Rags had said, everyone, even Hermione had expected that Rags was going to be at least embarrassed by the question, not have an answer to the question on the tip of his tongue.

Hermione, after she got over her shock, made a noise that was half squeak, half sob then quickly turned around and buried her head in Rags' chest hugging him as tight as she could from where she was sitting. Rags automatically hugged her back, that was one thing about being in a relationship that Hermione had been able to teach him, when the other person in the relationship wanted a hug, they got a hug, although in typical male fashion got the reason for her reaction all wrong.

"Hermione I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Tell me what I did wrong, and I'll do what I can to fix it...please talk to me."

Hermione looked up into his eyes, tears still glistening on her face, but with a huge radiant smile on her face she, that only confused poor Rags even more, that is until she spoke to him.

"Rags you did nothing wrong, just the opposite in fact, what you just said was probably the sweetest thing that anyone has ever said to me. So trust me you got a fair amount of positive boyfriend brownie points for that comment."

Harry prodded Ginny to get her attention and when she turned to face him he whispered "Look I know I'm pretty clueless about mushy relationship stuff" at her resulting glare he quickly clarified "Not with you, just stuff in general, I know that was one hell of a compliment that Rags just payed Hermione, especially seeing that he said that her smile was what he noticed first, instead of something more...physical, but why did it get such a strong reaction from Hermione?" He knew that Hermione often thought of herself as plain, but anyone could see that she had become a beautiful young woman; he didn't understand what was going on.

Ginny decided to enlighten her somewhat clueless boyfriend to what was going on "Harry, Hermione has not really spoken off what her home life is like right?" at his answering nod she continued "Her parents are great but because she loves books, learning and reading so much the children in her muggle neighbourhood treated her differently, making fun of her, and it got a bit worse since she started coming to Hogwarts, because as you know the standard muggle excuse for Hogwarts is an exclusive boarding school in Scotland. So I think it was Rags just saying something so sweet, and meaning it totally, just made her feel a lot better about herself."

Of course Ginny didn't mention all the times that Hermione had confided in her about the bullying that she had been on the end of as a little girl, simply for being different, for loving learning and books and wanting to be more than just another wife to some low level management type. This just enforced one of the most relevant reasons why wizarding kind avoided revealing themselves to muggle kind, muggles may not have the power of magic to aid them, but in many ways this only made them that much more vicious.

After the tender moment between Rags and Hermione had ended, along with Harry and Ginny's little conversation, the game began again this time with Rags at the helm.

He leaned down and whispered something into Hermione's ear, she quickly spun around and looked at him a shocked look on her face, that set Harry's internal alarm raging, especially when that shocked look morphed to become a smile of fiendish delight, with a nod of his girlfriend's head Rags turned back to Harry and Ginny and said.

"Very well you two, Couple Truth or Dare?" and before Harry could say anything with Ginny she jumped right in and said "Dare, and do your worst Rags, Harry and I aren't backing out of this one no matter what, right Harry?"

Unfortunately all Harry could manage was a squeaky "Right", he however remembered exactly who Rags' father was, and thought that if he wanted to be he could be just as evil, he wasn't to be disappointed.

With a Malfoy like smirk Rags asked his horrible dare "Very well then I will hold Ginny to the conditions that she specified, the dare is this, both of you go to one of the dormitories or bathrooms" he paused here for dramatic effect, and Harry hoped, just hoped that the dare might involve snogging and not something that will make him cringe for the rest of his life, Ginny's eyes had lit up at the prospect, having come to a similar conclusion as Harry.

"And when you are there you are to swap clothing" as the colour drained from his friends faces his eyes flickered with his mischievous devilry and his smirk got all the larger "_all_ your clothing. So seeing as Ginny has already bound you to this dare Hermione and I will see you two back here in a few minutes, off you go."

--

It was about midnight when Hermione and Ginny went to the Gryffindor girl's bathroom, most likely to have a girl chat, during the time that they were away Harry, once again in his own clothing, after _the_ most embarrassing experience of his life, decided to talk to Rags about something he had been meaning to discuss for a few days.

Harry motioned Rags to lean forward so that the two of them could have a private conversation without being overheard by anyone who happened to wander through the common room, although the group that were sitting here constituted the majority of the Gryffindor night owls, one or two others might be having meetings of their own in other parts of the castle.

Rags raised an eyebrow at Harry's covert displays but settled down to pay attention, convinced that what he was going to say would be important, or at the very least interesting.

"Rags, Ginny and I we watched the memories that you gave us" Harry had to pause there, he was used to being in difficult situations but nothing like this, disregarding the fact that Rags had voluntarily given up his memories, it was another thing to say that you had seen the most painful events of a friends life.

Rags just nodded his head and waited for Harry to continue, he knew that Harry needed to say this, and he supposed, he needed to hear it.

"Rags I don't know what to say, how you were able to keep going year after year. I don't think that I could have done it. Also just so you know it really affected Ginny, she felt really guilty about it."

"Guilty why? She had nothing to do with it, what on earth would she have to feel guilty about?" said Rags, his voice a little louder than he had intended, his expression mirroring his voice, confusion was written plaint to see.

Harry raked a hand though his messy black hair, a gesture that could have female hearts a fluttering all over the school in the right environment. "She feels guilty because she had a family; poor though they are, they are always there for each other. But like any family they have their ups and downs, I think she remembers all the times that she disagreed with her family, or when they squabbled over something petty. Do you know what I'm saying?"

Rags nodded, understanding the meaning behind Harry's words and said "What do you want me to do?"

"She's better now, and she accepts that there was nothing that she could do to help you, especially as some of the memories are years old, but Ginny, Hermione and I have had a talk and we all feel bad, not only about what happened in Dumbledore's office, but the fact that you had to carry this burden alone for so long, that was the hardest thing for any of us to accept."

Rags was choked up at this last statement, so much that all he could do was lean over and clasp Harry's shoulder tightly in his large hand and say "Thank you Harry" his voice barely above a whisper "I'm sorry that the images were disturbing, but I wanted...no _needed_ you two to see those memories, it was secrets that nearly broke our friendship apart, and I don't want there to be any secrets between the four of us, at least not from my end. Secrets nearly destroyed that which is most precious to me, I won't risk that again."

Harry nodded his head, Rags' words struck a chord inside of him and he realised what he must do, he couldn't put off telling his friends about the prophecy any longer, Voldemort was getting stronger, Harry's car was paining him more frequently, and his friends were being put in danger by not knowing everything that they could.

It was here that Rags very nearly opened his mouth and said what he had discovered in the memories that Harry had given him, he wanted to so badly, but knew that he couldn't. So it was that he found that he was forced to once again keep a secret from his best friend, something that he had sworn to himself, minutes before, that he would not do again. He had to tell someone though, it was a secret that had more riding on it than just Harry, so in his silence, and he resolved to tell Dumbledore the first time that he could.

The girls came back then, and after a quick explanation from Harry as to what he and Rags had discussed, Ginny became emotional again. She'd had practically the same conversation that the two boys had except with Hermione, and one or two little differences, such as their little plot.

It took a hug and a few words from Rags to calm her down, he told her what he had said to Harry, that she should not feel bad about the past that he had endured, and eventually she did calm down and became her usual chirpy self, but the other three noticed that she pulled Harry's arms a little tighter around herself than she had before.

--

The night progressed on in almost the same fashion, with truths being told and dares being given out. Some of the things said were so funny the foursome thought that they would be smiling for a _long_ time, especially considering one of the answer Rags had given to a question asked by Ginny.

Ginny had asked Rags what the most embarrassing magical failure Rags had suffered was, he had explained, rather red faced, that he had been working on a potion that he was supposed to master otherwise risk extreme punishment, but his sister had decided that he had spent enough time trying to get the potion right, and expected him to drop everything and entertain her, something he pointedly ignored, as most older brothers tend to do. The fact that they were seven at the time explained their immaturity.

This unfortunately lead to Rags' head being pushed into the lukewarm cauldron, which had the side effect of turning his hair blue for three weeks, not his most flattering look, apparently. This seemed to mark the end of the evening/ morning festivities, as it was not long after this that the sun's rays began to climb over the Scottish mountains that surrounded the castle.

The four friends gathered at one of the larger windows to watch the sunrise, they did not speak, for they were watch another kind of magic, magic that was performed without the aid of a wand, without the aid of enchantments and incantations, this was the magic of the world, life itself. As the golden orb rose above the horizon, and its piercing rays touched their faces they were filled with warmth, hope for the future, and strength to face the new day, strength that at least some of them would need.

--

Hermione and Ginny were sitting eating breakfast in the Great Hall waiting for Harry and Rags to come down from Gryffindor Tower; Harry had held Rags back to have a few words with him, probably about the Quidditch match. Ginny though knew that it wasn't something majorly important as she hadn't been asked to remain, and as a starting Chaser, it would have made sense for her to be there.

Ginny glanced up at the head table, the shock of seeing her brothers, Fred and George, chatting with Dumbledore when she and Hermione walked in through the doors, they hadn't given her any indication what their intentions were for the day, but she assumed that at some point they were going to corner Rags, and what happened from there was anyone's guess.

The doors opened once more and Rags and Harry entered the hall decked out to the nines in their scarlet and gold Gryffindor Quidditch robes, Ginny couldn't help but notice two things that made her smile and smirk at the same time. Firstly was how good Harry looked in this Quidditch robes, she had of course noticed this a long time ago, but there was no harm in looking again was there. The thing that made her smirk however was the small sigh that escaped Hermione's lips as she looked at the powerful from of Ragnar Valerian, _Nimbus 2000_ casually slung over his shoulder, beaters bat hanging from a leather thong attached to his belt, and the Quidditch armour encasing his body making him look less like the powerful young man that he was, and some form of ancient Greek titan.

More than one heart fluttered at the sight of the large bicep muscles bulging in his arms, the fact that he was obviously acting so casual and not straining himself, was only more impressive.

Harry on the other hand laughed at a comment that his large friend made and slugged him playfully in the arm, this simple gesture elicited a grin from Rags, who appeared to have gotten over his nervousness about playing his first game, the first game of the season, his first game _and _the first game of the season _and_ against the old enemy, _Slytherin_.

This new change in the big Norwegian lasted until he sat down next to Hermione and whispered in her ear "Curse me quick before I make an arse of myself in front of the whole school."

Hermione just shook her head, it appeared as though her boyfriend hadn't gotten over his nerves about the game, and that confident look that he had when he and Harry entered the hall, was either some _very_ good acting, or some clever distraction on Harry's part.

Hermione just sighed and pulled out her wand, she wanted to encourage Rags so she decided to be both stern and playful, hopefully confusing him enough that he would forget his nerves about the upcoming match.

Rags suddenly found himself doing two things, the first was going cross eyed, something that he rarely ever did, second, and the reason that he was doing this, was that he was staring down the 10 ¾ inches of Hermione's wand.

"Rags be a good boy and eat your breakfast, or I will be forced to curse you so that you will never be able to snog again. Do I make myself clear?"

The comically panicked expression that filtered across Rags' face had some of the Gryffindors that were sitting nearby to snigger into their hands, all except Ron, who glared balefully at the boy who, in his opinion, had stolen Hermione from him.

For a moment Hermione thought that she really had scared Rags by threatening to curse him, and judging from his atrocious upbringing and lack of care from people that should have looked after him, it would not have been an inaccurate assumption to make. But the tiny smile on Rags' face, as he ate a small omelette and the twinkle in his eye let her know that he found the situation as funny as she did.

As the foursome were enjoying their pre-Quidditch breakfast they were joined by an interesting person in the form of Luna Lovegood, often referred to as Loony, although never in front of Harry. She was wearing a hat, and what a hat, it was stylised to look exactly like a roaring lions head, in fact it was an actual lions head, not in the way that it was alive, but that it roared at any Slytherins that went past.

While Hermione, Ginny and Harry were talking about the upcoming match with Katie Bell, who had joined them after she had entered the Hall. Rags on the other hand had started up a conversation with Luna, which caused the strange young girl to smile brightly, not many people took the time to talk to her like an equal, they often talked down to her as though she was stupid for believing in things that were different than what other people believed.

But her conversation with Rags, someone that she had only spoken to in passing before now, held none of the normal insults that the people in her own House included when she spoke to them. The talked about everything that interested Luna, from Crumple-Horned Snorkack, to her favourite works of muggle fiction, which Rags had better luck talking to her about than the Snorkack, even though the only muggle books that he had read was _The Phantom of the Opera_, one of the novels that Hermione had given him for his birthday.

Soon enough though it was time for the players and fans to make their way to the pitch, Luna gave Rags a friendly farewell wave before she joined with Neville and some of the other Gryffindors that she was going to watch the match with.

Hermione sighed at the conversation that Rags had with Luna, she liked the girl well enough, but it infuriated her when she talked about creatures that all the proper documented sources not only said that they did not exist, they also said that there was no chance of them existing. She moved up to Rags and took him by the arm and lead him to a small alcove just off the Great Hall.

"Rags it's great that you're talking to Luna, she needs all the good friends that she can get. But why do you encourage her about the creatures that only she thinks that exists? Especially when all you have to do it look in the _reputable_ source material and you can find the information that specifically states that they do not exist."

The question itself, although not in the best of taste, was not asked maliciously Hermione really wanted to know the reason behind Rags' actions.

He smiled slightly and offered Hermione his hand, as he indicated with his head that they should make their way down to the pitch, as his other hand was still holding his broom. Hermione smile and took the offered hand, she enjoyed many things about being in a relationship with someone, but the little things such as holding hands when they walked somewhere was something that always brought a smile to her face.

They exited the castle hand in hand and noticed that Harry and Ginny were not that far ahead of them, and both of them had to smile as they noticed that Gryffindor's Seeker and 2nd Chaser were also walking hand in hand.

Rags gave Hermione's smaller hand a gentle squeeze to get her attention before he started speaking "Hermione I don't understand why you have such an aversion to the things that Luna believes."

At her startled, slightly hurt look, he gave her hand another squeeze and continued "I am not angry at your questions, and I believe that Luna isn't either, what does upset her is when you dismiss something that she obviously so strongly believes in. There are many things in this world that can't be explained, either through muggle or magical means, and that fact that a book dismisses them does not mean that they do not exist."

Hermione had slowed so much that Rags ended up stopping with her and taking both of her hands in his, after he put his broom on the ground; he rubbed her knuckles with his thumbs and smiled at her, trying to relieve some of her mounting negative emotion.

"Hermione never change who you are, question things, if there is something that you don't agree with question it, if there is something that you don't understand, unlikely that it may be, question it your quest for knowledge is one of the many things I lov..admire about you. But question things for the right reasons, don't question something's existence out of a need to dismiss it out of hand, question its validity out of a need to understand things. I will admit that some of the things that Luna believes in probably don't exist, but I am not going to judge her for believing it, it should be encouraged, for what would the world be without a little mystery in it?"

Hermione nodded her head, his correction registering at the back of her mind to be analysed at a later date, and although Rags' tone had been gentle, she felt like she had just been chastised, maybe because she felt that she needed to be so. She felt that she had let, not only her friends down by dismissing things that books said were irrelevant or in some cases unreal, but that she had also let herself down. As to a muggle-born magic was a great mystery, a mystery that muggle texts said did not exist. But in the magical world, as had just been revealed to her, she had been discounting some of her _new_ world's mysteries because textual sources said that they did not exist.

She sighed sadly to herself and looked up into Rags' caring stormy grey eyes and said "You're right, I've never thought about it that way before, it's just never occurred to me that the texts that I have been studying are wrong. I've become one of the things that I hate in this world, someone who dismisses an academic standpoint out of hand without having all of the facts."

Rags immediately pulled her into a hug to let her know that he was still there for her, through the good times and the bad, and especially through times such as this, times of great personal conflict. "Hermione it might surprise you to know, but _I_ believe in things that many people would dismiss without a second thought."

Hermione, reluctant to leave Rags' embrace, but understanding that he had a Quidditch match to play, handed him his broom, then lifted his free arm and snuggled herself under it, providing her with both the level of intimacy that she needed at the moment and some much needed warmth to stave off the encroaching chill.

With herself comfortably settled Hermione turned to Rags and raised an eyebrow, a sign that he had come to understand to mean that she wanted a further explanation to what he had just said, and with a smile on Rags' face they continued their walk towards the pitch, as they walked Rags continued talking.

"From an early age, as early as I can remember, I have been brought up to worship the old ways, the old gods of the world." He couldn't help a smirk that slipped onto his features as Hermione turned to look at him in surprise, she had been ready to accept a great many surprises from Rags, but something to do with religion sure wasn't amongst her list.

"It's true" he said with his smirk becoming a smile "my family never converted to Christianity, I was brought up to follow the old gods of the old religion. Odin, Thor, Loki, Bragi, Njorod, Freyja, Gefjun, Gna and Hariasa. I've worshipped all of them just depends on when the occasion arose for a specific one, for example, by now you are quite intimately familiar with Matsuro, when I forged that blade I prayed and made offerings to Thor, the god of thunder and smithing. Even the gods that I haven't mentioned here have been worshiped in some form or another, for if a man or woman as the case may be, disregards the gods only misfortune will follow in their footsteps."

Glancing at Hermione's open mouthed expression Rags let out a great bellow of a laugh, the result of which was a smoothing of his face making him look more like he _should _have looked, rather than the scarred visage that he wore today.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but I didn't think that I needed to. I know I don't exactly have the best track record with secrets when it comes to you, Harry and Ginny, but seeing as this wasn't really a bad secret I didn't think that it would matter that I didn't just immediately come out and say it. Also I thought that you might think it was...well... a bit silly to believe in something as different and strange as the Nordic Gods."

Hermione sighed against the muscular shoulder that her head was resting on at the moment, it was a sad thought but unfortunately a true one, religion was one of the things that was scorned to a certain degree in both the muggle and wizarding worlds, but more so in the muggle as the wizarding was still steeped in centuries year old tradition, although Hermione liked to think that she would have accepted that Rags was religious, at least religious in some form, but to her analytical mind the concept of belief in a higher power was foreign to her.

She was reminded of her grandmother on her father's side, her Grandma Amanda, whom she called Grandma Mandy, was a deeply religious Catholic, which was one of the only things that Hermione disagreed with her grandmother on.

"Rags I'm sorry that I...that we gave you the impression that we would poke fun at your beliefs. But I swear to you now that it will not happen. From what you have told me today I will try to keep a more open mind about things."

Rags pulled her into a tight hug and said "I hoped you would say that, but like I said before don't ever change who you are Hermione, keep asking questions. But take a few more things on faith" he chuckled a little before he said "you may find that the magical world is more magical than you originally thought."

Hermione's laughter joined with his own as they continued towards the pitch, but all too soon they had arrived and the pair had to part ways, Rags to the Gryffindor change room for his pre match briefing, and Hermione to the Gryffindor stand to watch the match with Neville and Luna, as well as some of the other sixth year Gryffindor girls and members of their House.

But just as Rags was about to move towards the pitch he felt himself grabbed and turned round to face Hermione again, he was then kissed more thoroughly than he could ever remember. His left arm circled Hermione's slim waist and pulled her closer to him wanting to increase the contact as much as he could, well as much as he could seeing as she was wearing fairly heavy winterish clothing, and he was wearing his scarlet Quidditch robes and armour.

When they pulled apart, both of them a little breathless, Rags slightly more so seeing as he was the one that was taken by surprise by the whole thing, once he had managed to catch his breath, much to the amusement of Hermione, he spoke.

"Not that I am complaining Hermione, but what was that for?"

Hermione grinned at him, he was a first class student, practically perfect boyfriend, the person you would want to have guarding your back if you were in trouble, he had a fantastic sense of humour and got on famously with everyone in his school House, but he could be pretty thick at times.

"Its tradition silly, tradition for girlfriends of Quidditch players to give their boyfriends a good luck kiss before the game, just to give them that fighting edge so that they push themselves that little bit harder in the game."

Rags smiled mischievously and said "How exactly am I going to concentrate on this game with the thought of _that_ kiss running around in my game, I may as well go back to the Common Room now and... contemplate" the waggled eyebrows that followed that statement caused Hermione to snigger into her hand and whack Rags playfully in the chest.

"That is your problem my dear Count, but consider this, if you win this contest of strength and wills in my honour I might decide to reward you with a favour upon your victory" at Rags' bemused expression Hermione sighed and dropped the medieval Lady act and said "If you win you get a long snog you dolt."

That got his attention faster than apple crumble at dinner, so with an elegant and courtly bow that would look more at home in a Victorian era soap opera, rather than the cold, frosty, muddy entrance to the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch Ragnar Valerian said "My Lady, your wish is my command."

Hermione grinned along with him, he may have had a terrible childhood but some of the things that he learnt were dead useful, such as Wizarding Etiquette, which was remarkably similar to its Victorian counterpart.

With that the two of them departed each to their separate area of the stadium, for the first Quidditch match was about to begin.

--

Rags was standing in line with the rest of his team waiting for the signal from Harry that would indicate that they were to fly out in their pre designated formation for the traditional handshake by both Captains, although how long that handshake, or even the pretence of civility, would last with both Captains being Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy was something that more than one spectator and player was thinking.

Rags was taking in deep breaths trying to calm his nerves, he could feel the sweat prickle slightly at his hairline and down his back, shaking his head he tried to force down his nerves and emotions the same way that he did when he was about to become so upset his emotions bubbled to the surface, buried them like he did before he went to draw Matsuro.

As he felt himself settle he could not help the small smile that slipped onto his face, he was nervous as hell, but on the other hand he was excited as hell as well, this was the sort of thing that he should have been doing for the whole of his life, enjoying an afternoon of playing Quidditch, just like any other seventeen year old.

Harry took a deep breath; he had managed to put a strong facade on for his team, but the truth was that he was nearly crapping himself at the thought that he was going to have to _actually_ Captain the Gryffindor team. The only thing that kept him focused was that his job as the team's Seeker was relatively simple, avoid bludgers, watch the other teams Seeker, and catch the golden snitch, it was all relatively simple really.

Glancing back he met Rags' eyes and ginned at the smirk that was adorning his friends face "Alright there Rags?"

Rags nodded his head and said "Not so nervous anymore, just anxious to get out there, how bout you Captain feeling ok?"

Harry laughed and said "Feel about the same actually" he heard the announcer start to talk and was surprised to hear that it was Lee Jordan, and guessed that this meant that the twins had arrived, and brought their friend.

--

Sitting in the stands Hermione was surprised to be joined by three surprise guests, there was Fred and George Weasley, who she knew were coming to the game, as they had told Ginny in a letter not long ago. It was strange though, the twins weren't any less friendly towards her, Neville and Luna, who had joined her by this time, but they were giving her odd looks and glances, from which they would glance at each other, most likely silently talking as all twins seemed to be able to do.

But what was surprising was the appearance of Aesir, the magnificent bird floated down gently to land on Hermione's shoulder. The twins were flabbergasted, even more so when they learned that the creature 'belonged' to the person that their younger brother had been whinging about almost since the first day of Hogwarts, they knew exactly how rare a Midnight Falcon was, and their opinion of Rags rose slightly without having met him.

Having Aesir sit on her shoulder like he was made Hermione think of her own egg, now wrapped up warm in one of her jumpers, she had taken to carrying it around with her whenever possible to ensure that it hatched, Ginny and Harry having done the same, although there had been no sign of them hatching anytime soon Hagrid had assured them that they would hatch when they needed them to.

Rags was a quandary to the humorous duo, Harry, Ginny and Hermione all seemed to really like him and get along well with him, rather a stupid statement in Hermione's case as she was dating the bloke, but Ron confused them. He had been saying things that didn't add up, that this 'Rags' had a vendetta against him, that he had turned Harry and Ginny against him for no reason, and that he had stolen Hermione from him.

Fred and George looked at each other, and in their own way they decided to take Ragnar as he came, and decide for themselves exactly how they were going to act around him, as Harry's new best mate, or as someone who had deliberately gone out of his way to hurt a Weasley, if the latter appeared to be true then they would act accordingly, for there was nothing more important than family to a Weasley.

Unaware of the twins musing Hermione had been having a nice chat to Neville and Luna, that two of them had been spending a lot of time together this year, having formed a solid friendship because of the DA and Hermione would not be surprised if they ended up dating. She thought that they would do well together, Neville would keep Luna grounded and Luna would add a bit of excitement to Neville's life.

Hermione had also managed to talk to Luna before Neville showed up, it had not been the easiest conversation she had ever had, but she had been glad she'd done it.

_Flashback:_

_Hermione caught sight of Luna walking ahead of her and called out to the younger girl "Luna hold on a second." _

_After turning around Luna eyed Hermione with an unusually aware expression on her normally vacant face and said "What is it Hermione? If you have come to tell me that I am being foolish for believing the things that I believe then don't you'll just be wasting your breath. I saw the way you looked at me when Ragnar was talking to me, your disapproval of my beliefs was written all over your face." _

_Hermione came face to face with Luna and said "Look Luna, Rags just gave me a thorough talking to and I've come to realise something, and that's that I've been treating you unfairly and I'm sorry. I have no right to judge you on what you believe, I myself don't believe in them, mainly because a book says so, but I shouldn't judge you harshly for something that obviously brings you so much joy. All I can say is that I'm both very, very sorry and that I will try to keep an open mind in the future. Like Rags said _'what would the world be without a little mystery in it?'._"_

_Luna smiled brightly, a small tear in her eye and said "Thank you Hermione, I know many of the things that I believe in are strange to most people, but for you to try to accept that I DO believe them means a great deal to me, thank you." _

_Suddenly her smile became impish and she said "Also I might be able to get you some books that support my beliefs, if you'd be interested in reading them that is?"_

_With that the two girls walked arm in arm chatting about the mythical creatures of the magical world, something that no one who knew Hermione Granger would have thought she would be doing, with Luna Lovegood no less, and up until that point one of those people would have been Hermione herself._

_Flashback: End_

Suddenly the amplified voice of Lee Jordan got everybody's attention as he shouted "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season where we see the ancient rivals of Gryffindor and Slytherin battle it out once more."

Hermione was cheering along with the rest of Gryffindor but she noticed something a little strange about Lee's commentary, turning to the twins she yelled to be heard over the cheering that was now sweeping the stadium.

"There is something different about Lee's commentary! Do you two know what it is?"

Fred, or it could have been George no one could really tell them apart anyway leaned down and said "He's gotten better hasn't he? Well he commentates professionally now, he is the commentator at the Holy Head Harpies home games."

Hermione nodded her head, Lee certainly had gotten better, at least he hadn't started insulting the Slytherins yet, although McGonagall couldn't give him detention anymore as he had left Hogwarts soon after the twins had.

"Now introducing the Cunning Slytherin's, Urquhart, Vaisey, Warrington, Crabbe, Goyle, Bletchley, and their Captain Malfoy."

The Slytherin stands went berserk, unfortunately it wasn't overly loud in the Hogwarts stadium as Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were politely clapping their hands, not cheering in the slightest, and the Gryffindors were being lead by the Weasley twins, in looking the other direction.

"Now the Courageous Gryffindor's, Bell, Robbins, Weasley, Weasley, Peaks, Valerian and Captain POTTER" the final bellow on Harry's name was the only indication that Lee supported his Gryffindor roots, all in all, especially considering how he used to be, everyone thought that he had been quite restrained.

In stark contrast to when the Slytherins came out the stadium erupted into cheers as the Gryffindors came streaming out, their scarlet and gold robes flashing in the weak morning sun.

Harry riding his superior _Firebolt_ was in the lead, as befitted his position as Captain, Rags and Jimmy Peakes coming next, as the team beaters they were the two largest and most imposing players on the team, and the sight they made was certainly imposing.

Landing on the pitch after their customary lap Professor Snape approached the two teams, Madame Hooch's leave of absence couldn't have come when Ravenclaw was playing Slytherin, no it had to come when the two houses with the worst rivalry were playing, Captained by the schools greatest rivals, the symbolism was not lost on many of the crowd. Neither was the fact that the game was now refereed by the most bias teacher ever to grace the halls of Hogwarts.

Draco shook Harry's hand, as was required by the two Captains, and from the spectators view it looked like he was trying to crush the Gryffindor's hand, what was less noticeable was that Harry was doing exactly the same thing.

Professor Snape approached the two Quidditch teams, looking more than slightly out of place in the black and white striped robes of an official referee, his voice simply dripped sarcasm as he said.

"I want a nice clean game, any foul play" he sneered at the Gryffindor's "will be met with the harshest penalties that can be enforced, am I understood?" as each Captain nodded his raised his whistle to his lips and sent a shrill note that echoed out across the stadium, signalling the beginning of the game, at which fourteen players shot off the ground taking to the skies to begin the first Quidditch game of the season.

--

The scores were one hundred all, and things were not looking good for the Gryffindors, Snape let _almost_ everything that the Slytherin team did slide, except the most heinous of offenses, that didn't mean that he had called a foul on Goyle when he hit Katie Bell in the face with his beaters bat, with the nearest bludger about ten meters away. After that incident things got ugly.

Rags and Jimmy were doing their best but even they were not able to make much of a difference with Snape ignoring all the fouls from the Slytherins. Finally a time out was called and the teams descended to the pitch, bloodied and weary they were still defiant, determined not to let Snape and his prized snakes beat them, Harry could not have been more proud of his team.

Things really looked their most dire though when a second year Slytherin student, assigned to help Snape during the match, brought over a scrap of parchment stating a change in the proceedings, Harry read it out to his team.

"Due to the severity of this competition I, Severus Snape, the Official Referee for this match have felt that it is necessary to enforce the ruling of Madrid 1803, Subsection 15, Paragraph 12, which states that the runic symbols inscribed around the pitch and surrounding stands shall be activated limiting the casting of magic to the Refereeing Official Only."

Two or three faces in the team paled at the thought that if anything went wrong the entire Gryffindor team was reliant on Snape's reflexes to save them from a potentially life threatening injury, Harry was not pleased.

Taking to the skied once again the Gryffindor's tried to prepare themselves for the onslaught that was to come, they had no idea what they were getting themselves in for.

Ragnar Valerian cursed quietly to himself in his native tongue he had been the cause of a penalty against Gryffindor, a penalty that Ron had been unable to save, Rags felt as though he had let the team down, even though all he had don was catch Crabbe's beaters bat three inches from his face, Snape had called him up for _'Interfering with the oppositions beater'_.

He knew that he was on a slippery slope raising to the obvious bait that was laid down by the Slytherin's and their head of House, but his prodigious control over his temper was fraying rapidly, it finally snapped due to the silliest of reasons, one that was completely unrelated to Quidditch.

He had been speeding around and saw a sight that had made his blood boil, as he passed the Gryffindor stands time seemed to stand still, his eyes had immediately been drawn to Hermione the sight of Aesir on her shoulder had brought a much needed smile to his face, but the burly, smarmy, some would say sleazy, form of the Gryffindor Seventh year Cormac Mclaggern trying to talk to her made him angry, and just before the speed of his _Nimbus 2000_ had taken them out of his line of sight he saw Cormac put his arm around _her waist_.

Anger boiled out of him, here he was playing a game he enjoyed for the entertainment of others, and some creep makes a play for his girl, the anger combined with the fear that Hermione would switch her affections over to the good looking seventh year, combined with jealously, an emotion that he was relatively unfamiliar with, that someone would even try to take Hermione away from him, turned his anger to rage.

Unknown to him his need to hurt, to maim called out the knowledge, and if anyone had been close enough to see they would have seen his eyes go from stormy blue-grey to brilliant viridian, Ragnar Valerian was mad and someone was going to pay.

Time seemed to slow as he saw a bludger coming towards him, for perhaps the first time in his life, he let true instinct dictate action, gripping his broom tight with both knees he let go with his hands. He timed it to perfection as he swung down underneath his broom he brought his beaters bat swinging down with all his might, the bludger shot off, far faster than it had arrived and struck Gregory Goyle full in the face. The whole stadium watched with baited breath, even some of the Quidditch players stopped to watch. The burly Slytherin sat there, stupidly, for a moment, a stupid/ confused look adorned his face, along with his broken nose and shattered jaw.

Then he fell, his body tumbling off his broom as he lost the battle with consciousness to impact with a dull thud, and most likely several broken bones, onto the Quidditch pitch meters below his current position.

This action by Rags caused three things to happen, completely by accident, the Gryffindor's redoubled their efforts to win the match becoming almost a brutal as their opponents, the Slytherins became more enraged themselves and strived to avenge their fallen comrade, no matter how useless he actually was. Then there was Snape, it was then and there that he resolved to himself that Slytherin was going to win this match, and he was going to make Potter's new friend's life a living hell when he got him back in the classroom. As by knocking Goyle off his broom in such a spectacular fashion, and with the non-magical wards in place, combined with Snape's inability to stop Goyle's fall, Ragnar Valerian had made the former Potions Professor look like a fool in front of the entire school and his colleagues as well, and Snape was not sure which one of those two realities was worse.

Harry was circling the pitch, watching his team play for their very lives, unfortunately feeling rather useless as the Golden Snitch had not yet made an appearance, a few times he thought that he caught a glimpse of it against the crowd, but it turned out to be just a piece of jewellery.

But he too, like his Norwegian friend, was having a hard time controlling his temper, as he not only had to put up with Draco Malfoy's incessant tormenting, he also noticed that two of his least favourite people in the wizarding world were watching the game. Firstly was Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister of Magic, who by the barest margin had been able to keep his office after the revelation of Voldemort's return turned out to be accurate, Harry rightly assumed that the portly politician was there to corner Harry and try to make him side with the ministry and appear to give his support to the anti-dark methods that they were suggesting, and the pre-emptive measures that they were implementing. But Harry had sworn to himself that as long as innocent people were being sent to Azkaban, people like Stan Shunpike, if this was the case then he had no business supporting the ministry in any fashion.

The second person was one Lucius Malfoy, recently released from Azkaban, and cleared of all charges on relation of being a Death Eater because he had, yet again, said that he had been under the _imperious_ curse, and such a prominent pureblood would not lie about being in such a situation.

--

Albus Dumbledore was watching the match but not taking very much of it in, he was instead thinking about a set of memories that he had viewed the night before, they were not his own memories, but rather the ones that had been provided by Ragnar Valerian, and to say that Dumbledore was concerned was understating the matter entirely.

He had a great deal of sympathy for the young man that had to endure so much hardship throughout his life, but he was not going to risk anyone's life over it. He was concerned about several things that he had seen in the memories, such as Voldemort's attempt to transfer his knowledge of magic over to his son, by use of the _Knowlegium-Familia _ritual. What concerned Albus was that the entire magical knowledge of a Dark Lord now resided in the mind of a sixth year Hogwarts student, his son no less, and if that was there he didn't know what, if anything, had been transferred over at the same time.

He was working on a way to try to explain to Harry that he needed to distance himself from his new friend, something that he didn't want to do, and if he could maybe explain to _Ragnar_ and have him allow Dumbledore to examine his mind then nothing would have to change, when Minerva's gasp of horror drew him back to the game that was being played.

--

McGonagall had gasped for a very important reason, the snitch had been sighted, and both seekers had been off like twin shots from a cannon to be the first to catch it and bring this brutal game to an end putting their brooms into a horrifying dive in the process.

Harry was pushing his _Firebolt_ to its maximum speed, with Malfoy not far behind, trying to get to the snitch, he didn't want to see anymore of his team get hurt, having already caught Ginny when she had been knocked from her broom by Malfoy. His face paled as he saw out of the corner of his eye a bludger heading towards him, reaching out with his hand he tried to catch the snitch as the bludger got ever closer, when it was no more than a meter away he involuntarily closed his eyes not wanting to witness the impact that the cannonball made on his body, when he heard the thwack of a beaters bat striking true.

Looking up he saw Ragnar just behind him eyes glowing, the sight sent a chill down Harry's spine and not for the first time he was glad that he had Rags on his side. The pair glanced behind them at the same and saw that Malfoy was gaining on them when he heard rags call something to him.

"Harry you better catch that bloody thing or this is going to be for nothing" with that Rags pulled his _Nimbus_ out of its dive, using his body as a wall to effectively stop Malfoy, there was a snap followed by a sickening crunch as the two bodies collided and Harry saw both his best mate and worst rival fall to the ground, very fast, apparently lifeless.

Anger boiled inside him, anger at Malfoy Snr for escaping prison, anger at Fudge for staying in office, anger at Rags for getting himself hurt over a Quidditch game, and anger at Snape for being the cause of the brutality of the game they were playing.

Like Ragnar before him Harry's anger called forth power, and unknown to the Chosen One, his eyes began to glow a rich golden glow. Harry _willed _his broom to go faster, and the broom answered the call, and then _almost_ as if by magic the snitch was in Harry's fist, with just enough time for him to look down and see Rags being carried off the field by Hagrid with a distraught Hermione running to keep up. It was one of the most hollow Quidditch victories of Harry's life.

--

Hermione was both scared and furious at the same time, scared that Rags had gone and hurt himself badly over a stupid Quidditch, and mad at two Gryffindor's for the same reason. One Cormac McLaggern, and Ronald Weasley, Cormac had been trying to put the moves on her for the whole game, telling her how much 'happier' he could make her than Rags could, and how much of a better athlete he was, it was when he put his arm around her waist and slipped it _lower_ she snapped. Her body had reacted to instantly to one of the moves that Rags had showed her, her right foot had broken two of Cormac's toes and her right fist had broken his nose, something she knew she was going to get in trouble for, but unlike her she didn't care at the moment. Fortunately the Weasley twins shoved the big lout towards the back of the stands so that he couldn't bother Hermione anymore, something she was immensely grateful for.

She was mad at Ron because after Rags had been injured she had run out onto the pitch trying to get to her fallen boyfriend when Ron, thinking that she had come to see him had grabbed her in a hug and tried to kiss her in front of the whole school, she had just pushed him out of her way, not even bothering with the idiot so great was her need to see if Rags was alright.

Ginny however had cracked Ron over the head with his own broom and had threatened to hex him if he didn't get out of everyone's way.

This was how Hermione, Harry and Ginny found themselves, once again, waiting around a hospital bed for Rags to wake up, it was not a pleasant sensation of déjà vu. But unknown to all in the hospital wing, including Madame Pomfrey, Dumbledore and even Voldemort himself, the force of Rags' head smashing through Malfoy's broom had broken something deep inside him, shattered the basic, instinctive occlumency barriers that Rags had placed around the part of his mind that contained Voldemort's Dark Magic knowledge, and now that knowledge had been absorbed by his subconscious and just waited to be called out.

Rags however opened his mind, having just been knocked unconscious, something that he was intimately familiar with, only to find himself hugging an armful of sobbing brown haired witch, who kept thanking whatever deity she could think of that he was alright and saying many hurtful things about his intelligence, all together a confusing situation for the young wizard in question.

Even Hermione had to laugh though as the first question out of his mouth had nothing to do with his health and simply stated "Did we win?"

After being assured that they won, and that Fred and George thought that smashing Malfoy around was _'Wicked'_ and in the middle of Ginny recollection of Rags spectacular, if ill-advised, mid air tackle Dumbledore walked in. He had a brief chat with Madame Pomfrey about Rags' health and asked if he might speak with him privately, the kindly matron didn't like it, but agreed to the Headmasters request, albeit reluctantly.

Dumbledore was then confronted with the four students looking at him expectantly, he asked _again_ if he might speak with Ragnar alone, he was told that anything that was said to Ragnar would then be repeated to the others soon after as he wasn't going to keep secrets from them again, this earned him smiles from his friends and a sad one from the Headmaster.

Dumbledore then spoke of what he had thought off while the Quidditch match was being played, the four were shocked, Rags the most, he had hardly payed any thought to the possibility that Voldemort had transferred something else into his mind along with his knowledge. At this news he glanced fearfully at his friends, fully expecting them to get up and run out of the room trying to get as far away from his as they could, he wasn't sure that he wouldn't act in the same way were the positions reversed.

Instead he found himself being hugged tightly by Hermione again, and hearing her say "Rags, you are still you, and nothing is going to change that, at least in our minds." This simple statement meant the world to Rags, who buried his face in his girlfriend's silky/ wavy hair in order for no one to see the tears of gratitude in his eyes.

Dumbledore spoke again "Rags I'm sorry to ask this but would you be willing to let me look into your mind, to see if there is anything else that Tom transferred over, there is little that can be done for the knowledge, but a spell or anything similar must be treated as soon as possible. I would like you to come to my office after dinner tonight, bring Mr Potter, Miss Granger and Miss Weasley if you like, I'm sure that they would want to offer their support in this matter."

The old Headmaster almost laughed at the empathic nods that he was getting from the other three students, Rags was just smiling slightly top himself, when he surprised everyone by saying.

"Thank you Professor, we'll all be at your office after dinner, I can't imagine that these three at going to let me out of their sight for a while, but I was wondering if I could get your advice on something?"

"Of course dear boy, I would be more than happy to help any way that I can, is it a pressing matter or shall we discuss it later?"

"If you have the time professor I would like to discuss it now, guys I'd go to dinner if I were you, it's probably about to start and Harry and Ginny have to wash up first, I'm ok thanks to Madame Pomfrey cleaning me up before putting me in the bed, so I don't smell like a Dragon Herder. But I'll catch up with you guys at dinner ok?"

As Harry and Ginny nodded their heads Hermione was wondering what Rags wanted to talk to the Headmaster about, but she wasn't going to bother about it, it was his business after all. Ignoring the sniggers from her friends, and the way the Headmaster pointedly looked in the other direction she leant down and gave Rags a sweet lingering kiss and whispered in his ear.

"You passed your test Sir Knight, I'll await you to claim your reward this evening" she managed not to giggle at the blush that swept up Rags' cheeks until she was in the corridor with Harry and Ginny. The three of them made their way back to Gryffindor tower talking about the Quidditch match, and how unpleasant the Slytherins were going to be for the foreseeable future, none of them knowing the conversation of great importance that was going on between their friend and the Headmaster.

--

Sitting on the edge of Rags bed Dumbledore regarded the young man over his half moon spectacles and said "Now rags what is it that I can help you with? If it is relationship advice that you seek I should warn you, it is not my way to comment, or aid student relationships."

He chuckled as Rags once again blushed, but was glad that the lad was also smiling, Miss Granger had obviously been a great influence on him, but the words out of Rags' mouth shocked the Headmaster to the core, and made him jerk back in surprise, sending his glassed tumbling to the stone floor where they shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Professor what I have to say, Harry cannot know of, unless it can be proven true, it would break him and hurt him far more than any lie told to his face. It is to do with Sirius Black, Professor I believe that Sirius Black can be brought back. In fact I'm not completely sure that the man is dead."

A/N: Done :] ok sorry for the delay, no internet, travelling the world, and uni exams make for a long time between chapters. Hope you enjoy, remember Reviews=Chapters *hint hint*

Cheers TBK


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